The Master of Dragons
by Wolf Blossom
Summary: When one of her dragon eggs is stolen, Hermione Granger - the Master of Dragons - must team up with an unlikely ally to find out exactly who the culprit is. Will their age-old animosity best them? Or can romance bloom in such tumultuous times? [DRAMIONE]
1. Alit Familiam Amicitia

_Sanctuarii._

A place that Hermione called home for the past decade. Sitting on the highest point of the flying fortress, Hermione scanned the horizon as she did every day during the twinkling hours of twilight. It had been a long decade since she had seen her family and friends; something that she knew she was going to have to endure when she approached the Ministry of Magic with Charlie Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Blaise Zabini. The five of them made a pact: _Alit familiam amicitia._

 _Friendship breeds family._

An unlikely quintet, but Hermione was glad that they were by her side throughout the years… _especially_ Blaise Zabini. He was an unlikely comrade, but their house differences were long set aside when he took on the role of _Ignis Carceris_ – Fire Guard.

With the sun fully set, Hermione stood up from her seat and dusted off her dragonhide pants. Underneath her clothing were burns, cuts, and scars from her decade long career of being _Draconis Domina_ – Master of Dragons. She was the ruler of _Sanctuarii_ , the flying fortress that served as a sanctuary for dragons in Magic England.

The only other sanctuary that was close was in Romania, where Charlie used to work. Deciding that Romania was too far, Hermione took it upon herself to create her band of Dragon Guards.

And she served as the Master of the band.

Withdrawing a dragon bone carved whistle from underneath her off-white blouse, Hermione covered the first of the four holes that donned the whistle. A sound, the cross between a flute and an ocarina, sounded in a sharp A-minor and instantaneously, a grand fire dragon shot down from the skies and came to a halt in front of Hermione.

Her eyes were trained onto the dragon's eyes and she lowered her head ever so slightly without breaking eye contact. The dragon returned the bow and Hermione leaned forward to rub her snout. A decade ago, Hermione implemented the _bow_ with her dragons to signify respect and equality and it had stuck ever since.

"Are you well, Arcania?"

A puff of smoke billowed from the fire dragon – Arcania's – nostrils. With the beat of her wings, Arcania adjusted positioning so that her torso was beside Hermione. With a swiftness unmatched, Hermione mounted Arcania and kicked her legs twice.

"To the _Canyon_."

The _Canyon_ – Hermione's chambers located in the epicentre of _Sanctuarii_. It was where her books, her journal logs, and all incubating _drac'ovum_ – dragon eggs – were kept safe. Arcania let out another billow of smoke from her nostrils before nosediving straight to the center of her flying sanctuary.

* * *

 _Third of May, 2016_

 _Magnus Igne – Blaise_

 _Three new hatchlings; purebred. Incubating on the third shelf from the top in the Canyon. Reis and Ling to be in heat in three days—previous cycle ended a fortnight ago. Reis first._

 _Aquatilium - Luna_

 _No new hatchlings. No drakaina ready for mating._

 _Zephyri – Charlie_

 _One new hatchling, transferred to Zephyri. Charlie to keep a close eye on him, seems to have a birth defect but with monitor, we can help him overcome it._

 _Aera to be in heat in five days. Aera scheduled to mate with Requiem._

 _Meditaris Avena – Neville_

 _Two new hatchlings, incubating on first shelf from top. Water and Earth crossbreed displaying more earth-like tendencies. Moved her into Meditaris Avena, Neville to keep a close eye on her. If powers to shift, will transfer to Luna._

 _Successful breeding of perfect-quad. Incubating on second shelf from top—potential to be the legendary dragon, but will not be able to tell until hatched._

 _xxH_

Hermione returned her quill into the inkwell and looked through her notes once more. Recollecting her thoughts from the day was the most daunting task, but it had to be done. Satisfied with her summary, Hermione shut the green leather journal and returned it to the ceiling high shelf in her room. Apart from her favourite texts from school, Hermione kept her Dragon Logs for the last ten years—she never knew when she would need to review one of them.

She ran her fingers over the spines of a few of her journals and closed her eyes, just for a moment.

 _Ten years… such a long time, but insignificant to the lifespan of a dragon._ Inhaling deeply, Hermione exuded a long sigh. It was her body's way of resetting.

 **Draconis Domina! Get your butt to the kitchens now! We are STARVING!**

Hermione heard Charlie's voice bellow through _Sanctuarii_ and rolled her eyes. She was _obviously_ late for dinner. Withdrawing her wand from her thigh holster, Hermione waved it with a precise _swish_ and disapparated from her bedroom.

* * *

"And _then_ , Avantii puffs out a ring of _smoke_ and haphazardly tosses it at me and it settles _around_ my neck and stays there for a good, I dunno, four hours?"

Hermione apparated in to the kitchen to find a piece of chicken dangling from Blaise's mouth as he recounted a story from earlier that day. Walking up behind him, she thwapped him upside the head before sitting down between Neville and Luna.

"Are you making up stories again, _Ignis_?" Hermione used Blaise's title instead of his name which, for Blaise, was quite a normal occurrence.

Blaise glowered at her. "They aren't _stories_ , _signora Tigre_. They're fabrication of the truth."

"That means they're lies. And don't call me that." Hermione placed her hands on her hips. "I represent the great house of _l_ _ion_ , not tiger."

Charlie, Neville, and Luna's heads ping ponged between the two verbal combatants. Blaise was quick to serve his jests, but Hermione would smash it right back at him.

"… yeah well…"

"Game set and match!" Neville slammed his hands on the table. "You two need to grow up!"

Hermione eyed him warily. "How do you even know what a game set and match is?"

"I watched a lot of tennis with Harry before moving here." Neville shrugged as if it was the most normal possible answer ever. Hermione exchanged glances with Charlie before both threw their heads back in laughter. Shaking her head in amusement, Hermione began to serve herself Luna's dinner special.

" _Anyway_!" Blaise said in between chewing. "Before our fearless leader interrupted me! Avantii puffs this smoke necklace onto me which lasts _quite_ some time! Then, later that eve, Reis comes along and tries to inhale my smoke necklace!"

"Oh! Speaking of," Hermione glanced at him, "I need Reis and Vicer, _Ignis_."

"You're not using Reis to crossbreed?" Charlie voiced his question and Hermione shook her head.

"No, purebreds are dwindling so I need to ensure healthy ones are being bred." Along with the title of _Master of Dragons_ , Hermione had the formidable task of breeding dragons as well. She didn't mind it, but it became overwhelming when she had to keep track of her crossbred-to-purebred ratio as well as when each _drakaina_ was to be in heat and which _drake_ to use to mount her.

"Oh!" Luna looked up from her squash soup. "I saw _larüa drakes_ today while I was flying with Iona."

Blaise cocked an eyebrow " _Aqua_ ," he used her title—he tended to use his peers' titles versus their real names. "They do not exist."

Luna idly glanced at him before turning back to Hermione. Her and Blaise had a ongoing quip; she would see legendary or mystical creatures, and he would reject their very existence. It had come to a point where Neville, Hermione, and Charlie doubted that Blaise even _meant_ what he said, he just wanted to get a rise out of Luna.

One hundred percent of the time, though, it worked. Blaise proved to be the formidable court jester.

"They do, _Ignis_." Luna had a sarcastic tone when she used his title. "But you must've experienced a near-death experience with a dragon to be able to see _larüa drakes._ "

Luna sipped her soup loudly before adding: "Which you haven't."

 _She's become a snarky little thing throughout the years._ Hermione mused.

"Fine, little miss always-experiencing-death," it was now Hermione, Charlie, and Neville's turn to ping pong between two people. "What do _larüa drakes_ look like?"

Luna exhaled loudly. " _Ignis_ , I could tell you but you wouldn't know if I were telling the truth or fibbing because _you've never seen one_."

"Game set and match!" Neville hollered again and Charlie snorted before playfully shoving Neville.

"Will you stop with the 'game-set-and-match'?!"

Neville feigned pain. "You didn't have to shove so hard." He mumbled before turning to his meal. "Great dinner tonight, Lune." He said, affectionately. Luna smiled at him as Blaise made gagging noises in the background.

"Quit being immature, Blaise." Charlie muttered. "You should be happy for those two for finding love."

"Hermione doesn't let _me_ find love." Blaise mumbled which earned him a bread roll being tossed at his head. Smirking, Blaise picked up the bread roll Hermione threw at him and bit into it slowly.

"The fruits of my love."

"That's a carb, you obese troll" Hermione snorted.

And the playful banter began once again… It was the same routine, night after night, week after week, year after year… And they wouldn't change it for the world.

 _Alit familiam amicitia._

* * *

In the dead of night, Blaise crept through _Sanctuarii_ with his special visitor, Marietta Edgecombe. Their fearless leader had to make a trip to the Romania sanctuary and had taken Charlie with her, leaving Neville, Blaise, and Luna to overlook the operations. With his peers retired for the night, Blaise made his moves to sneak his lover into their secret haven.

He wasn't allowed to bring outside visitors; Hermione's strict rules. He was allowed to go home for one holiday every year, but was never allowed to bring any one to their place of employment. But Blaise Zabini was a Slytherin through and through and never followed the rules—he _did_ , however, respect a few of Hermione's wishes: 1) Never disclose to anybody she was the _Draconis Domina._ Why? He didn't know. She just didn't want people to know she ran the show. And 2) Never let anybody know their location. Sure they were a floating fortress over Wiltshire that was cloaked under the guise of invisibility, but nobody was to know they existed, save a few members in the Ministry.

So, Blaise did just those two: never told Marietta who his _boss_ was, and certainly did not _show_ her how to get to _Sanctuarii_. He blindfolded her every time he picked her up from Keevil.

"Is your boss here today, Blaise?" Marietta murmured as he undid her blindfold after they touched feet onto _Sanctuarii_.

"Nope." He refused to say more.

Sure, he broke the rules, but he did hold a certain level of respect for his boss. After all, she saved him ten years ago and he was forever in her debt.

* * *

" ** _DRAGON GUARDS_**!" The raw power of Hermione's voice echoed through the fortress at the crack of dawn. Within seconds, the four guards apparated in to the _Canyon_ with looks of worry and confusion.

"What's wrong?!" Charlie was the first to speak but was taken aback when Hermione whirled onto them with fire in her eyes, mixed with tears.

"Hermione?!" Luna rushed forward to wrap an arm around Hermione's shoulder but the latter girl took a step back.

"Which one of you was it?" Hermione's voice was lethal, which led to more confusion on the part of the guards. Neville took a step forward.

"What do you mean?"

"Which one of you snuck somebody in?" Hermione's eyes scanned over her _friends_. "One of my _drac'ovum_ is missing and I know none of you would take it. So tell me, _Ignis_ ," Hermione's eyes locked with Blaise. "Who did you bring?"

Blaise looked shocked. "… Me?! Why would you think it's me?" Blaise's eyes darkened. "Is it because I'm a Slytherin?!"

"You damn well _know_ that isn't it!" Hermione roared. "But you know as well as _I_ do that you're the one most likely to bring somebody here— **so who was it**?!"

Blaise gulped. Sure, he could play macho manly man in front of Hermione but that never lasted long. His eyes were locked with hers as she took a few steps to stand directly in front of him.

"Who, Blaise?"

It was one of the rare times Hermione called him by his name and not his title. It unnerved him slightly.

"…Marietta Edgecombe?"

It was as if all the air was sucked out of the room. Neville and Luna glanced at each other and Charlie managed to squeeze in between Blaise and Hermione. He was the only one slightly confused over what the drama with this _Marietta_ girl was, but he knew that Hermione was very close to hexing their Fire Guard.

"Marietta _Edgecombe_?" Hermione's whisper was lethal.

"Relax," Charlie placed his hands on Hermione's shoulders. "Whatever vendetta you have against this girl can wait. We need to find the _drac'ova_ ; who was the _drakaina_?"

Hermione shot Blaise one last glare before glancing over her shoulder to look at Neville.

"Terra," she used his title as the Earth Guard, "Basileaf is the _drakaina_ , can you prepare her for flight?" Neville nodded and quickly ran out of Hermione's room, completely forgetting that he could've apparated. Luna took out her wand and held it in front of her.

"I'll meet you on the Flight Deck." With a flick of her wand, she was gone.

Charlie looked over his shoulder. "Best you follow her too, _Ignis_."

Blaise was hesitant for a moment but chose to heed Charlie's recommendation and apparated out of there. Finally, with his hands still on Hermione's shoulders, Charlie turned back to her and studied her intently.

"Are you sure it's stolen?"

Hermione nodded. "Absolutely. I ensure the _drac'ovum_ are well secured on the shelf; no _way_ could it have simply _rolled_ anywhere."

Charlie nodded. "Okay. You are aware that Basileaf will be able to find her _drac'ova_ anywhere in the world. Are you prepared for such a flight?"

Hermione nodded, again. "Absolutely. We talked about this, Charlie—it's my role as their alpha." She tilted her head to the side and managed a weak smile. "You did it for the first year we were here… remember?"

Charlie let out a hesitant chuckle and released his hold on her shoulder and brought his hands up to straighten the rose gold circlet adorning Hermione's head. The _Drakon Circlet_ , the mark that proved that she was the alpha over the dragons. Whoever wore the circlet assumed all control over every beast born and raised in _Sanctuarii_. He had worn it for the first year they were there before passing the torch onto Hermione.

"I recall, but you haven't done something like this before. Do you wish for me to come with you?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. You need to be here to make sure all breeding and operations happen as per usual."

Charlie nodded while bringing his left hand up to caress Hermione's cheeks. Ten years was a long time, and they had, on occasions, sought each other for comfort. But that was simply it: comfort. Neither wanted more from the other and it was an agreement they both decided on.

Hermione did not react to his touch, but simply took a step back. "See you up top, _Caeli_?" His title. Air Guard.

Charlie nodded. "Aye, _Draconis Domina_."

Her title.

Master of Dragons.

Withdrawing her wand from her thigh holster, Hermione swished it once and apparated out of her bedroom in a heartbeat. Charlie shoved his hand through his hair and shakily exhaled. Sure it was an agreement they both decided upon… but that didn't mean his heart didn't ached for more.

Deciding he needed a moment to compose himself, he took the long way to the Flight Deck.

* * *

Her white blouse tucked into her dragonhide pants, with her knee-high boots of the same material made Hermione look more like a warrior than a Master of Dragons. Around her hip was her toolkit: herbs and ointments for tussles against dragons, four vials of Polyjuice potion in case she needed to look like one of her dragon guards, and a small dagger.

She never left _Sanctuarii_ without them. And since this was one mission she didn't know _where_ she would be, she most certainly had to be prepared. Mounted atop of a jadeite dragon, Hermione watched her four dragon guards gathered around Basileaf.

"Charlie, you run the show. Luna and Neville, do as he says."

Her eyes flickered to Blaise. "And you," she neither said his name nor title and he cringed. "You do not leave your sanctuary until I get back. Remain inside of Magum Ignes until _further notice_. Understood?"

Blaise ducked his head.

"Understood."

"Good." Hermione picked the dragon bone whistle and pressed it to her lips, covering the fourth hole before letting out a long breath. Basileaf's wings spread wide before she kicked off the ground and straight to the sky. The four dragon guards watched quietly for a long time before Blaise sunk to the ground and sat with his legs crossed.

"I'm in serious shite, aren't I?"

"Absolutely." Luna didn't spare his feelings as she strode past him. Blaise decided to lie down on the Flight Deck altogether.

 _Screw me from behind._

* * *

Being the _Draconis Domina_ did not give Hermione any more magic power than she already had. Sure, the circlet she perpetually adorned gave her the slight ability to sense dragon aura and give her authority over her dragons, but that was about it. She simply asserted her dominance over her hatchlings and they grow to know her to be the alpha.

It was simply how the animal kingdom worked. Dragons were no exception to the rule.

The only difference was was that she needed to wear her circlet to be able to properly assert dominance.

It was one of those times, though, that Hermione wished she could do more to scout her _drac'ova_. Lucky for her, though, Basileaf would be able to sense the aura of her young no matter where she was in the world. And, based on where Basileaf was flying, Hermione was certain that the _drac'ova_ was still in England.

 _I recognize this place._ Hermione thought as she saw Basileaf beginning to fly circles over Gringotts Bank.

"We're in Diagon Alley." Hermione whispered. "Is he here, Basileaf?"

Basileaf made a sound that was a mix between a grunt and a roar. She was ensuring that she was circling high enough overhead that nobody would be able to spot her. Hermione hadn't a clue how long they were flying for, but it was clearly well in to the day that people were out and about in Diagon Alley. Hermione _should_ be tired, as she had been flying all night with Charlie, but she couldn't be. She _wouldn't_ be.

She had to find her _drac'ova_. She just _had_ to.

"Is he in there, Basileaf?" Hermione asked as she pointed at Gringotts.

Basileaf made another sound akin to a growl. Hermione nodded, knowingly. "Okay. You stay up here. When you sense us, meet us by the skyline." Hermione pointed to the glass ceiling that she had broken out of once.

With a comforting pat, Hermione released the reins of her dragon and tilted herself sideways, effectively falling off from an incredible height. With the years of Voldemort fighting and Hogwarts training behind her, Hermione was able to stop herself from a fatal landing and quickly scrambled to her feet. She was behind Gringotts; she began to sprint to the front while formulating a plan.

 _Bill! Bill works here!_ Without a second thought, she pulled the vial of Polyjuice that would make her look like Charlie. Head tilting back, she simultaneously drank the potion while using a glamour charm to change her outfit and her voice.

Within seconds, she was the second of the Weasley children. The circlet around Hermione's head began to heat up (and, luckily, it was hidden discreetly under the glamour charm) as she approached the front of Gringotts.

 _So it's definitely here._

Pushing the door open, she made her way to the front desk as flashbacks of her and Ron trying to sneak their way through filled her memory—it had been _ten years_ since she saw anybody. A conscious choice on her part, but painful nonetheless.

"Ahem," Hermione finally said as she approached a desk. "I am here to see William Weasley—my brother."

The goblin looked at Hermione – Charlie – over his crooked nose before glancing over his shoulder. "Mr. William Weasley. A guest, for you."

Hermione wasn't expecting Bill to be _right there_. Okay, that was a good thing. Straightening up her chest, Hermione approached Bill as he walked in her direction, confusion evident in his face.

"Charlie?"

"Mother needs me to collect funds from George's vault."

The confusion deepened. "… mother? Why would she send for you when you hardly leave work?"

 _Shoot_! Hermione hadn't thought of that. "It was important."

"Why wouldn't she owl me?"

 _Double shoot_! "Must we contemplate trivialities, Bill? Let's just get the funds from George's vault. You know how mother can be."

Bill's eyes were narrowed but he complied with his 'brother's' request. Attaining special permission to escort his brother to the vaults, Bill and 'Charlie' boarded a trolley and were promptly on their way. Hermione was surprised that Bill hadn't said _anything_ —she was expecting him to engage in conversation with his younger brother; one whom he hardly ever saw.

"What's the game this time, Hermione?"

Her eyes snapped to Bill. "H-how…?!"

"Oh please," Bill snorted. "You've done this once before. And you're the only one who can brew Polyjuice potion effectively _and_ has access to Charlie's DNA. So. What's the game this time?"

Apart from the four guards and select ministry officials, Bill was the only other person that knew of her profession. After all, he did approve her loan to start the flying fortress ten years prior.

"One of my _drac'ovum_ was stolen," she revealed as they went under the Thief's Downfall. Immediately, the effects of her glamour charm and Polyjuice were gone.

Bill frowned. "How? Your fortress is impossible to navigate to—unless…"

"One of my dragon guards snuck in a significant other. I believe _she_ has something to do with this but I can't be sure." Hermione murmured as she tried to concentrate on where her _drac'ova_ 's aura was coming from. They were going deeper and deeper into Gringotts and, if memory served her right, she would be approaching the Lestrange vault sometime soon.

"That doesn't sound particularly fun." Bill mused and Hermione nodded.

"No. It doesn't. I have to deal with him after I save my _drac'ova_ — **there**!" Hermione pointed at an unmarked vault before warily eyeing the Lestrange dragon. She was right, they were _exactly_ where she thought they were and was both surprised and not when she spotted a dragon in front of the Lestrange vault.

"Is she new?"

Bill nodded. "Yes. The old one ahh… _expired_."

Hermione clenched her fist. They must've killed the dragon. Ohhhh, she hated the Lestrange's with a passion. Lucky for her, she didn't have to deal with them much anymore—in fact, nobody really dealt with them. Delphini Lestrange (she took her mother's married name versus her muggle father's surname) was in Azkaban and she was the only _living_ Lestrange that anybody knew of. If others were alive, they were in hiding.

Delphini must've, _somehow_ , arranged for this dragon to take the place of the _expired_ one. Even from Azkaban, she was a bitch.

"Alright, this is as far as I go." Bill nodded as Hermione managed to disembark from the trolley and gingerly balance herself on the crumbling ledge. "Whatever happens after this, I am no way involved. Understood?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes."

With one final look, Bill directed the trolley to go back where it came from. When Hermione was sure the trolley was out of sight, she turned her eyes to the dragon. The dragon was watching her, her ochre eyes being a source of light in the darkened dungeons of Gringotts Banks.

" _Drakaina_ ," Hermione called out and the dragon began to straighten up. _Drakaina_ was a term that referred to _female dragon_ and, when Hermione was met with a dragon of unknown name, she referred to them by their gender. "Is it your desire to serve the Lestranges?"

The dragon watched Hermione for a brief moment before lowering her eyes in sadness.

 _Thought so._ Hermione thought. "Aid me, _drakaina_ , and I will take you to my sanctuary." Hermione tilted her head so that her circlet was in view. "I am _Draconis Domina_ – Mistress of Dragons of _Sanctuarii_."

By then, the dragon was fully standing. Their eyes were locked onto one another and Hermione knew the dragon was trying to gauge if Hermione was trustworthy or not. Finally, deciding to side with this stranger, the dragon was quick to approach her.

"Assist me in breaking into this vault," she gestured at the unmarked vault. "One of my precious _drac'ovum_ is in there. Fly us out, and my dragon friend will guide you back to my sanctuary." Hermione noted that the dragon was a crossbreed—she had yet to determine what type, though.

With one fell swoop, the dragon smashed the door open and immediately, the alarm bells began blaring. Lockdown ensued but Hermione paid it no heed—she saw it. The charcoal grey _drac'ova_ that emitted a wispy smoke. Reaching in, she gingerly picked it up and turned back to the dragon who was preparing herself to be mounted.

"Let's go, _drakaina_." She murmured as she quickly mounted the dragon who began her ascent to the skyline. Déjà vu rocked Hermione, but she was in no position to reminisce. Using her wand to create a shield, she protected herself, her _drac'ova,_ and the dragon from the shattering of the glass as the dragon broke free from the confines of Gringotts. The alarms kept blaring and Hermione knew the Aurors would be there soon.

Pulling her necklace out from under her blouse, she used it to alert her earth elemental dragon that she was safe. Within a manner of seconds, Basileaf came in to view, a blood curdling scream sounding from her throat. Their eyes locked, Hermione nodded and was ready to guide her dragon into the air when a familiar voice stopped her.

"Granger. I do believe you're breaking the law."

Hermione's head whipped to the side to see an old friend floating a few feet away from her on his broom, his arms crossed impeccably over his Slytherin green Auror robes.

"Malfoy."

* * *

 **The idea just came to me. It's canon but not canon at the same time? A few questions you may have (like about her necklace) but I will reveal those answers as the story goes along :)**

 **Hope you like it!**


	2. The Stolen Drac'ova

"Granger. I do believe you're breaking the law."

Hermione's head whipped to the side to see an old friend floating a few feet away from her on his broom, his arms crossed impeccably over his Slytherin green Auror robes.

"Malfoy."

Unlike traditional Aurors who straddled their brooms normally, Draco Malfoy, Prince of Sytherin 1999, Smartest Wizard of the Year 1999 – 2006, and Auror extraordinaire, was _standing_ on his broom. His legs were shoulder width apart, his wand tucking out from underneath his left arm, while his arms remained in the crossed position.

Hermione's eyes met with his perpetual stormy grey ones. His eyes hadn't changed—they remained the same as they were ten years ago, when she last saw him at the Closing Ceremony Ball at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Basileaf's eyes flickered from Draco Malfoy to her alpha, Hermione. The Lestrange dragon did nothing to move, she was waiting to see what command the so-called _alpha_ was going to give. High above Gringotts, two dragons beat their wings rhythmically as two old _friends_ watched each other.

"Why do you have the Lestrange dragon and a dragon egg with you?" Draco Malfoy finally broke the silence, his eyes flickering from the dragon he knew his _cousin_ Delphini ordered to guard her vault to the smoky egg clutched in Hermione's arms.

"Are you biding time until more Aurors get here?" Hermione squeezed out, contemplating whether she should shoot for the skies and risk Draco following her and becoming a wanted criminal… or to submit.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Absolutely not. While you've vanished from the face of the earth, I've become a Head Auror and, as such, do not require reinforcements." It came as a surprise when Hermione Granger disappeared right after graduation. While the rest of his classmates had gone on to become world renown people, the one that everybody anticipated to become the Minister for Magic had disappeared altogether. Nobody ever heard from her since that day.

Hermione snorted. "Still as self-absorbed as ever, Malfoy? Well, thank you very much for the—"

"My broom is the fabled _Dragonfir_." Draco interrupted her. "It can match the speed of any dragon. One of a kind." He tilted his head to the left, just slightly. "So you are _not_ going to make a swift get away. Understood?"

Hermione's eyes flickered to his broom and back up at him. Was he bluffing? Should she even _try_? She knew she could persuade Kingsley Shacklebolt to let her go if she only explained to _him_ what happened. _Fine,_ Hermione resigned, _there's only one thing to do to ensure the drac'ova, Basileaf, and this drakaina are safe._

"Basileaf!" Hermione roared as she, quite suddenly, tossed the _drac'ova_ to its mother. Basileaf was quick to catch her eggling in her mouth before turning to fly away—she knew what her master was commanding, and was no position to fight back. Draco was caught by surprise and stumbled slightly, losing footing on his broom. Draco slipped off the side but caught the stick of his broom with his right hand and hoisted himself up to straddle his Dragonfir _._

"Follow her, _drakaina_." Hermione pat the crossbreed affectionately before allowing herself to fall off the side of the beast. Without second thought, the Lestrage dragon followed Basileaf high in to the sky.

Draco's eyes widened. " _Granger_!" He looked up at the two retreating dragons and cursed under his breath before making a quick shot for the falling witch. Hermione was preparing to cast the charm that would break her fall, but was surprised when a pair of strong arms caught her mid-fall. Her head whipped to meet his gaze and she began struggling.

"Let me go, Malfoy!"

"By the powers decreed to me by the Ministry of Magic, Hermione Granger, you are hereby arrested for the break-in, break-out, and theft of property of Gringotts."

Hermione scowled as a pair of magic handcuffs appeared in front of her and quickly latched onto her, rendering her useless. Draco smirked down at her, but did not relinquish his hold on her— "It's been quite some time since you've been in my arms like this, huh, Granger?"

Hermione spluttered. "Mal- _Malfoy_! You make it sound like we were cavorting! I _fell_ , if you so conveniently forgot, down the stairs the last time."

"Nuance, Granger."

Draco did eventually relinquish his hold on her and kept her side saddled on his broom in front of him. He flew without holding onto the stick, commanding his steed with sheer willpower alone. The entire time, Hermione was glaring off into the distance, trying to formulate a plan of how she could escape the Auror Headquarters without getting into any more trouble than she already was.

"Were you commanding those dragons, Granger?" Draco finally asked. Hermione refused to look at him.

"No."

She didn't want to give him any more information. He was an Auror, a long-time enemy, a short-time friend, and the man in the process of arresting her.

"Then why did they listen to you?"

Hermione shrugged nonchalantly. "You tend to trust those you care about, do you not? They care for me because I care for them." She refused to give him more. Anything she said could and would be used against her in a court of magic law. Draco raised both of his eyebrows, clearly amused.

"I see…"

The rest of their travel was in silence. Draco touched foot onto the rooftop of the Auror Headquarter and helped Hermione off of his broom before nudging her in front of him. "Walk." He commanded and she did, glowering at everybody who was staring at her. Whispers began to course through the building: _Hermione Granger, off the grid for a decade, was arrested by Draco Malfoy._ _And_ _she was wearing a Drakon Circlet._

"Do I still retain my right to make a floo call?" Hermione called over her shoulder as she walked down a dingy hallway. She assumed the inside of the Auror Headquarters would be lavish and unearthly, like Hogwarts. But it merely looked like a muggle hospital

"Yes. After I put you in a detaining cell."

"How do I make a call _from_ a detaining cell?"

Draco sighed. "I have paperwork to do before you can make your bloody call, Granger. Now be quiet," he rubbed his temples, "you're quite the chatterbox for a criminal."

Hermione bit her bottom lip, fighting back the retort that threatening to come and turned her gaze to look ahead of her. _Whelp… I was bound to get arrested one day. I survived seven years of Voldemort-induced hell and never saw the inside of an Auror cell._ Draco, abruptly, caught Hermione's upper arm and pulled her into a mildly lit room. In the center was a table and chair, and off to the side was a dank bed. A depressed chill went up Hermione's spine.

"Wait here," Draco ordered. "Let me finish my paperwork and then you may contact your lawyer and make your one floo call. Fifteen minutes?" Draco used two fingers two gesture _goodbye_ before turning and leaving the cell. Hermione heard a loud _click_ and knew she was locked in.

Besides, he had confiscated her wand _and_ her dragonbone necklace, it's not like she could escape, even if she tried. He let her keep her circlet, though, and she was moderately thankful. She would've had quite the breakdown if he had taken the one thing that linked her to _Sanctuarii;_ her home. Sinking to the ground beside the bed, Hermione buried her head in her hands.

Fifteen minutes was quite long when one was waiting to hear their fate. Despite the wait, though, Hermione had only one thought in her mind:

 _I will find who stole my drac'ova, and I will make them pay._

* * *

With the last of the paperwork completed for Hermione's impending arrest, Draco returned to the holding cell to retrieve Hermione. He was both surprised and not when he did not see any sign of physical distress on her; no tears, no red eyes, no sadness. Her eyes had a hardening to them, as if to imply she was very upset at _something_.

"Ready?"

Hermione nodded and followed Draco out of the cell. Her hands were still cuffed, which prevented her from making any getaways; besides, without her wand _and_ her whistle, Hermione wasn't going to make it far to begin with.

"Do you have a lawyer you want us to contact while you make your floo call?" Draco asked, glancing to his left where Hermione was walking in tandem.

"No." Hermione shrugged. "I don't have a lawyer. Just give me a public defender."

Draco's eyes narrowed, slightly. _She has no lawyer? But Potter is the most reputable lawyer in Magic England_. His curiosity was piqued. Where **was** Hermione Granger for the past decade? Nobody had heard or seen from her. Then, without warning, there she was, riding a dragon and breaking out of Gringotts.

For the _second_ time.

Draco would figure it out.

Hermione was guided in to what looked like to be the central Auror chamber. Aurors of all kinds were busying themselves with their daily tasks and some even spared Hermione and Draco a glance. The ones that _did_ , though, were shocked to the core.

 _Hermione Granger?!_

Draco paid them no heed and continued to guide Hermione to the centrally located fireplace. Ushering Hermione to stand beside him by the fireplace, Draco grabbed a fist full of floo powder and glanced at Hermione.

"Who am I calling?"

Hermione gulped. There was only _one_ person who could weasel her out of this messy situation. She hated that she was going to put him such a predicament, but she knew she had to. He was reliable.

Inhaling deeply, Hermione said the words that rocked Draco to the core: "Blaise Zabini, _Sanctuarii_."

Eyes wide, Draco was all but frozen. _Did she… but Blaise works in a dragon sanctuary… how the hell could she…_ Breaking out of his stupor, Draco nodded tightly before throwing the powder into the fireplace and roaring out exactly what Hermione had said to him.

"Blaise Zabini, Sanctuarii _._ "

Within seconds, the fireplace crackled to life and the fiery image of his best mate appeared. "Draco? How the hell did you—" And that was when Blaise's eyes were met with Hermione's. " **HERMIONE**?!"

Blaise's explosion caused Draco to become further confused.

"Where are you?! How're you with Draco?! Why're you in cuffs?!" Blaise's questions came like a barrage but Hermione silenced him with a smile.

"Errr… I've kind of gotten arrested?"

" **WHAT**?! Where. Are. You?!" Blaise enunciated the words and Hermione's shoulders slouched.

"The Auror Headquarters."

Blaise's eyes turned to glower at Draco. "Open your damn portal; I am flooing there in _five minutes_." And their connection sizzled to a stop. Draco's jaw was slack, as was every other Auror's in the central chamber. Hermione's heart was pounding against her chest, fear and anxiety coursing through her veins.

She was afraid of everybody finding out about her profession; she wanted to keep it a secret. It was a condition when she and the four guards started _Sanctuarii_. She didn't want Blaise to get in trouble _or_ trouble him—sure, he was partly responsible for her _drac'ova_ getting stolen, so he was partly responsible for her arrest… but he also shouldered more of the burdens on _Sanctuarii_ than any of the other guards.

"How…?" was the only word that Draco was able to formulate. Hermione's eyes lifted from the ground to lock with Draco's.

"How?" She repeated.

"How did you know where to floo him?" Draco's voice was barely above a whisper. " _Nobody_ in ten years knew where he worked. We only saw him for the fortnight he came home during Christmas. How do _you_ know?"

Before Hermione could open her mouth to answer, the fireplace crackled to life.

" **OPEN YOUR DAMN PORTAL, MALFOY!** " Blaise's voice blared, echoing through the entire floor. Draco jumped and hurriedly muttered an incantation that changed the Auror fireplace from a _one-way_ to a _two-way_ portal. Instantaneously, Blaise flew out of the fireplace in a rage and gathered Hermione into his arms.

Every pair of eyes was locked onto those two.

"What happened?!" Blaise's voice was worried. "How the hell did you get arrested?! Basileaf came back with the _ova_ and this unknown _drakaina_ and you were nowhere."

Hermione smiled tiredly at him. "You were outside of Magnum Igne when I specifically told you to stay in there, _Ignis_?"

"Trying to be funny, hmm?" Blaise rolled his eyes and finally released Hermione from his crushing hug. He turned to Draco and unstrapped a pouch from his utility belt. "How much is Hermione's bail?"

All the air was sucked out of the room. Did _Blaise Zabini_ , Draco's best mate from Hogwarts and second-in-command Slytherin for seven years just ask how much Hermione Granger's bail was while dangling a pouch of gold?! _What the hell happened over the last ten years?! Did they get married?!_

Draco opened and closed his mouth, shock coursing through every square inch of his body. He was trying to get a grasp at what was happening, but he couldn't fathom it. Everything playing out in front of his eyes was something from a dream; none of what was happening _should be possible_.

"Dammit, Draco." Blaise scowled. "How much is bail?! And uncuff her already." Blaise's eyes flickered to Hermione. "You okay, _Draconis_?" He whispered, using her title out of habit. Though the rest of the Aurors were at a distance enough to not hear him, Draco caught very word of what he said.

 _Draconis?!_ Now, he was further confused. That was _his_ name…

"A little sore. Broke through a skylight, retrieved what was mine, and got arrested." Hermione tried to stifle a yawn. "And I haven't slept in thirty-six hours…" Blaise knew what she meant, she had _just_ returned from her Romania run when she realized that one of her _ovum_ was missing.

He turned back to Draco. "Where's Kingsley?! I'll ask him myself!"

"There is no bail." Draco finally said. "She stole from Gringotts and napped the Lestrange dragon. It is a punishable offense; we cannot release her until her trial is complete."

"To **hell** with the trail." Blaise said, vehemently. "You are _not_ arresting her. She is coming home with me, **today**."

Draco's eyes darkened. "What the hell, Blaise?! Is she your _wife_ or something?!"

Hermione's eyes widened as Blaise jumped over the table between he and Draco and grabbed the Head Auror by the scruff of his collar. "Does it _matter_ , Malfoy?" Blaise was seething. "You have her in handcuffs in the middle of your Auror station without a public defender present, parading a _private_ conversation for all of your Aurors to hear. You've broken _innumerable_ rules surrounding the proper arrest procedures of a suspected criminal, and that _alone_ discredits this arrest."

Draco pulled Blaise off of him, his eyes darkening further. Shock was changing in to anger. "She isn't _suspect_ , Zabini. She was caught red-handed."

"For taking back what was hers?!"

"You cannot prove or disprove that." Draco snarled. "Now you need to calm _yourself_ down. We are contacting a public defender and—"

"Fuck it." Blaise growled as he turned back to Hermione. Catching her around the waist, he grabbed a handful of powder and tossed it into the fireplace. "My apologies mate."

And before Draco could say the incantation that changed the fireplace back to one-way, Blaise was already through with Hermione: " _SANCTUARII_!"

"DAMMIT!" Draco roared as he, took, grabbed a fistful of powder and tossed it into the fireplace, roaring the same location as Blaise did. The fireplace roared a bright green before ejecting Draco from it, hurtling him across the central chamber. Pushing himself off the ground, Draco dusted off his robes while glaring daggers at the fireplace.

 _I will find you two._ The weight of Hermione's wand and whistle weighed in his pocket. They left without them; meaning that the whistle was definitely replaceable.

With a swish of his cape, Draco proceeded to leave the central chamber with his sights set on the Ministry of Magic. There had to be something there that he could use to find out where Blaise and Hermione went. And find out _why_ she stole the egg from Gringotts and why Blaise was so protective of her.

 _Is she his wife? He neither agreed nor disagreed_.

Draco would get to the bottom of it. That, was a promise.

* * *

Hermione fell out of the fireplace first, still handcuffed, and Blaise close behind her. Charlie, Neville, and Luna were awaiting their arrival with worry. No sooner did Blaise come out of the fireplace, he turned around and quickly sealed it, making it impossible for Draco to follow them.

"Hermione!" Luna helped her friend stand up as Charlie flicked his hand to incinerate the cuffs around her wrists. Neville handed Hermione a goblet of water, for which she was thankful for. Blaise simply watched with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked and Hermione nodded, slouching against Luna. Her legs were beginning to give in.

"Yeah. Although I doubt _Ignis_ can ever take a family trip ever again. You didn't _have_ to kidnap me, you know." She said, her eyes twinkling. Blaise simply smirked and shrugged one shoulder.

"I think it was an effective method. He can't ever find us here. And he can't arrest _me_." Blaise approached Hermione and playfully flicked her nose. "By the time Christmas comes around, he would've already forgotten that I kidnapped you."

"Wait…" Neville's eyes were bugged. "You _kidnapped_ her."

Charlie smirked. "And that's precisely why she used her floo call to call _Ignis_. None of us would've been capable of pulling off that sort of heist."

"A call worth made. Now," Blaise pointed at Hermione, "go to the _Canyon_. Wash up. Sleep." He then pointed at Neville. "Do a thorough check-up of Basileaf." Then, he turned to Luna. "Do a checkup of the _ova_." Finally, Blaise turned to Charlie. "Do you mind doing my rounds for me tonight? I'll escort _Draconis Domina_ to her chambers."

All of the guards nodded and split, going to do their assigned tasks. Blaise helped Hermione loop an arm around his shoulder and began their slow trek to her room; his wand was in his chambers inside of the Fire Sanctuary – _Magnus Igne_ – and hers was still at the Auror Headquarters. That rendered either of them incapable of apparating.

"Would it be worth much if I said I was very sorry?"

Hermione tossed Blaise a lopsided grin. "You saved me from jail. So I guess I can contemplate forgiving you—but _why_ Marietta Edgecombe?" Hermione looked away from him. "After what she did… I mean it wasn't like you were gung-ho about Dumbledore's Army either but… I mean, I had an inkling you were sneaking somebody in, but I always thought it was Malfoy, or Nott… you know? Just to show them the Mangum Igne? I just didn't think it'd be Edgecombe."

Blaise felt terrible. Hermione had never sounded so confused or hurt for the decade that he had been working for her. Sure they butt heads like siblings, but he truly had come to care for her as he would a sister—being a rebel came with the territory of being a rambunctious brother, but he never intended on hurting her feelings.

"Marietta and I… had an affair going on. We'd meet when I visited for Christmas." Blaise sighed. "Eventually I started sneaking her in… I did when you went for Romania, but I don't know if she took the _ova_ ; I never let her out of my sights."

"But she's a suspect."

"I don't disagree."

"Can you probe and find out?"

Blaise glanced down at Hermione. "I can try. I haven't spoken to her since I snuck her out last night."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Thanks… and… Malfoy has my wand and my dragon whistle…"

"I'll arrange for both." Blaise said in a heartbeat. They finally arrived at the _Canyon_ and Blaise ensured Hermione washed up and got in to bed before leaving her chambers. He apologized once more before clicking the door behind him, leaving Hermione alone to her thoughts in darkness.

It had been _ten years_ since she last saw Draco Malfoy. Her last memory of him was exactly what he had said earlier that day—being held in his arms, after tripping down the stairs. Their eyes were locked onto each other's for what felt like an eternity.

And then he set her down.

Growling, Hermione turned to her left and pulled her blanket up to her chin. _And then there's the case of my stolen ova… who could it have been?_

Deciding she needed a good night's sleep, Hermione allowed the fatigue to overcome her body. She would deal with and handle everything at dawn.

* * *

"SHACKLEBOLT!" Draco kicked the Minister for Magic's door down. "Give me every file you have on Hermione Granger."


	3. The Legend of Larüa Drakes

"SHACKLEBOLT!" Draco kicked the Minister for Magic's door down. "Give me every file you have on Hermione Granger."

Startled, and rightfully so, Kingsley Shacklebolt looked up from the work at his desk and raised an inquisitive brow at his Head Auror. "Hullo, Mr. Malfoy—what brings you to my office on such short notice?"

Draco's eyes were narrow and his patience thin. With an even number of strides, he was directly in front of the Minister for Magic with a look of death in his grey orbs. "Granger. I need _every_ file you have on her."

"And why, pray tell, do you require Granger's files?"

Draco spluttered. "Why?! Were you not aware that she was _arrested_ for breaking and entering Gringotts, stealing a dragon egg, and dragon napped the Lestrange dragon— _for the second time_?!" _And not to mention Zabini floo'd to her rescue in a questionable fashion_. But Draco did not voice the latter point.

Kingsley's eyes brows furrowed. "Is that so? Miss. Granger came all the way here to retrieve an egg? Hmmmm…"

Draco's fingers twitched; he was very close to punching a hole through the Minister's wall. The years after Hogwarts had taught him many a things, but patience was something he _did_ not have; not when he was eleven and certainly not while he was twenty-eight. Inhaling deeply through his nose, Draco willed himself to keep some semblance of calm while speaking to his _employer_.

"What is so intriguing about this, Minister? I am requesting all documentation on Hermione Granger so that I may properly carry out this case and have her arrested for all crimes she has committed in today's happenstance." Draco wanted to commend himself for being so collected while speaking to the Minister. Anybody else would've had their head chewed off.

Unfortunately for Draco, his patience was about to get a kick in the arse.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Malfoy." Kingsley sat down and missed the look of raw anger that flashed across Draco's eyes. More than just arresting her, Draco wanted to know how she knew where to find Blaise and why he was so protective of her. Things weren't adding up anymore, and Draco had never been the one to be kept in the dark…

Particularly when it came to his _best-fucking-mate._

"Why not?" Draco stopped himself from inserting _the-hell_ between the words 'why' and 'not'. Something told him the Minister wouldn't have appreciated that very much.

"You require the correct warrant for me to hand over all of Miss. Granger's files." Kingsley seemed nonchalant as he shrugged. "And apart from that, I'm sure Miss. Granger had a viable reason as to why she broke in to Gringotts." Kingsley raised an eyebrow at Draco, as if he was daring the Auror to argue back. "Do you remember the last time she did? It was a practicable reason, if I do say so myself."

That was the straw that broke the hippogriff's back. Roaring, Draco slammed his hand down on the Minister's desk. Kingsley, however, didn't so much as flinch. "Our duty, _Minister_ , is to ensure justice is served. And justice does not give _preferential_ treatment. We cannot let her crimes go unpunished because she's a war heroine— that does not send a particularly good message to criminals."

"True," Kingsley leaned back in his chair. "But how do you propose you _find_ her, Mr. Malfoy?"

It clicked for Draco. "You know… you know where she is?!"

"I can neither agree nor disagree to your statement." In truth, Kingsley did know. He was one of the few members of the Ministry that knew of her whereabouts as well as the four she called her guards. But, he was not going to reveal such classified information to just _anybody_. The Minister pushed himself off of his chair. "Whether or not I know where Miss. Granger is, it is not information I can reveal to you without a proper warrant." Kingsley used his head to nod to the door. "I appreciate that you are trying to maintain peace and order, I truly do… but that does not mean you can go about doing your job with shortcuts. Any, and all, information you require is yours given the proper methods. You may go."

With one final hard stare, Draco turned around and stormed out of Kingsley's office. The Minister rubbed his temples; he felt a migraine coming along: _My word, Miss. Granger—what have you done? Mr. Malfoy will not rest until he learns of your secret…_

* * *

Hermione was stroking the snout of the Lestrange dragon affectionately on the Flight Deck. She had a long sleep and awoke just as the sun was beginning to set; her sleep pattern would be impacted for a few days, but it was nothing she could correct with some effort. Blaise and Charlie were making their rounds. They were ensuring all gates were secure (the dragons had a tendency to damage chattels while playing around), the fortress' flight system was working, their defense mechanisms active… and much more. Luna was preparing dinner (she had an aptitude for cooking), and Neville was monitoring Basileaf; she had quite the flight as she was protecting both her _drac'ova_ and the new dragon.

"You're a beautiful one, aren't you." Hermione whispered, her eyes never wavering from the dragon. The dragon lowered her head in respect and brought her front arms forward; she was bowing to her new alpha. Hermione smiled warmly and placed a gentle kiss on her new dragon's snout.

"We need to do two things now, _drakaina_ …" The dragon looked at her, confusion shining in her ochre eyes. Hermione's smile broadened. "We need to first, name you, and second, realize what element you wield."

The dragon straightened and stood up before rearing her head and shooting a blast of icicles from the back of her throat straight into the air. Hermione watched silently; she was observing the raw power of the newest addition to her family. _Water. She'll have to go with Aqua to the Aquatilium_. Luna's sanctuary was referred to as the _Aquatilium_ , just as Blaise had named his the _Magnum Igne_.

"Do you have reign over any other element?"

Once again, the dragon lowered her snout and closed her eyes. The action was enough to make Hermione's blood boil. _How much did the Lestranges abuse this poor dragon?!_ Lovingly, Hermione stroked her snout once again. "It's okay, _drakaina_ —when you are ready to unleash your second element, you do so. I can tell you're a crossbreed, but until you're ready to show me… I will not force you."

The dragon seemed to be content with what Hermione said and, hesitantly, nuzzled her. Heart swelling at the small display of affection, Hermione couldn't help but place another gentle kiss on her new friend's snout. It always amazed Hermione how soft dragon scales were, despite their cold and unmalleable façade. The sheen in this particular _drakaina_ 's onyx scales sent an ethereal shiver to run up Hermione's spine.

"Now, to name you," Hermione whispered, never once stopping her ministrations. "Your scales are as beautiful as the midnight sky—how do you like _Mediae?_ "

The roar of icicles that were hurtled in to the sky was enough for Hermione to know that her new dragon, Mediae, loved her name. Laughing, Hermione took a step back and placed her hands on her hips. "Excellent. Now, you must meet Luna, the _Aqua Carceris_. Come, Mediae." Hermione turned around and made a move to walk down the spiral staircase that took her directly to the central chamber of _Santuarii_. Not far behind, Mediae followed.

"Aqua!" Hermione roared as she trudged down the stairs. She hoped Luna was around to hear her; without her wand she wasn't able to cast _sonorous_. Unfortunately Luna was not around, but Neville popped his head from around a massive pillar—the one of five that were situated around _Sanctuarii_ 's central chamber.

"She's in the kitchens, Hermione." Neville called out as he walked out from behind the pillar. He was simply wearing his dragonhide pants and boots, and didn't opt for a shirt. A dull brown towel, however, was thrown haphazardly over his left shoulder, effectively hiding a nasty scar he received during his first year on _Sanctuarii_.

"Are you able to get her for me? Tell her to meet me inside of _Aquatilium_."

Neville nodded and immediately began to semi-jog toward the kitchen. Hermione looked over her shoulder and smiled at the timid dragon. "Come, Mediae. We'll head to the sanctuary first."

* * *

"Warrant my fucking behind." Draco snarled as he kicked his bedroom door open. Much to his mother's protest, Draco had rented a spacious penthouse suite rather close to the Auror Headquarters. It wasn't the Malfoy Manor by any stretch, but it was Draco's humble abode and he loved it nonetheless.

Untying his cape, Draco let it crumple to the ground before unbuckling his belt. Within a manner of seconds, Draco was stripped down to his birthday suit and was crawling into his king sized bed – just because he lived alone didn't mean he was going to deprive himself of Malfoy privileges. Once he was comfortably under his cotton duvet, Draco began to ponder the events of that day.

 _Granger stole an egg. Not unusual, but she was commanding two dragons._ Draco had to stop himself from smirking at how it was _normal_ for Granger to be stealing anything. He tossed to the left. _Used her floo call to summon Blaise. My best mate was protective of her… extremely protective. Both went to a place called Sanctuarii. And now Shacklebolt requires I get a warrant to acquire all the information I need to proceed with this bloody investigation._

Draco turned. _But where the hell am I to get a warrant in such short—_ his thoughts stopped dead and Draco sat up. _Potter! That bloke owes me a favour._ Draco, slowly, sunk back down onto his bed. It was supposed to be his day off the following day, but the Malfoy heir was beginning to plan his trip to Potter's office to discuss the details of his… _request_.

Sighing loudly, Draco ultimately decided to flop onto his stomach. _Just you two wait… I will find out this secret you're hiding_. Though Draco kept telling himself it was to maintain peace and justice that he wanted to arrest Granger, he knew deep down that it was to figure out how she knew where Blaise was… and why he was so vehemently opposed to her getting arrested.

That, too, for a crime she _legitimately_ committed.

After what felt like an eternity, Draco fell asleep.

* * *

Head thrown back with honey brown tresses framing her face, Hermione laughed louder than she had done in a _very_ long time. Sitting in front of her, sheepish in all his glory, was Neville Longbottom with an upturned bag of flour on his head. Hearing her melodic laughter ringing through the chasms of _Sanctuarii_ , Charlie and Blaise hurtled towards the kitchens where they were met with Hermione, Neville, and a highly bemused (and fully clothed) Luna.

"What the— _Terra, what the fuck are you doing_?!" Blaise stopped dead in his tracks when he saw naked Neville try to use the now empty flour bag to hide his goods. Charlie immediately burst into uncontrollable laughter; he and Hermione were hanging off of each other, neither being able to breathe or form coherent sentences.

"Were you and Luna getting it on again!?" Blaise asked, flabbergasted. "I thought I told you the _last_ time to keep your freaky fun in your sanctums!"

Hermione stopped laughing to gawk at Blaise. "They've _done this_ before?!"

Blaise shot her a toothy grin. "Oh, yeah, they have."

" _Ignis!_ " Luna threw an apple at Blaise who caught it expertly. He, playfully, winked in her direction.

"Draconis Domina has told us never to lie to her, _Aqua_."

Luna blew a raspberry at Blaise. "You are a little piece of shit, do you know that, _fratello Ignis_?"

Blaise snickered. "So now we're marrying Italian and Latin together, _Aqua_? But I like that—Brother Fire; it has a nice ring to it." Blaise, just in the nick of time, dodged the plum that Luna tossed at him. She was the easiest to rile but, but he knew that she knew he was kidding 99.9% of the time.

"Hate to burst your bubble, friends, but Neville is still naked on the floor with flour all over him—" Charlie paused. "Wait… why are _you_ naked and Luna isn't?!"

Luna grinned. " _He_ came in to the kitchens prepared; I was getting ready to make lunch."

Blaise and Hermione blew up laughing and Charlie slapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself form following suit.

"Came. In." Blaise squeezed out and Hermione began laughing _even_ louder. Neville, scowling, stood up – suddenly not embarrassed by his nakedness—and stormed out of the kitchen. His dramatic exit, unfortunately, caused more laughter to erupt. Hermione was caught somewhere between a laugh and a hiccup and seeing her struggle to do both resulted in Blaise laughing even more.

Luna smiled affectionately at her friends. "Now, now. It isn't nice to poke fun at the naked Earth Guard."

Charlie placed his hands on his hips: "Perhaps said guard shouldn't be naked and trying to cavort with you."

Blaise smirked at Hermione. "Perhaps the end goal here was to romp in the moss in _Terra_ 's sanctum?"

Hermione screwed up her face. "Oh, no way! My poor dragons graze that moss!"

"I'm sure it doesn't stop them. I mean, the fire dragons gorge on the lava rocks in _Magnum Igne_ , but that doesn't stop me from-" Blaise managed to, skillfully, dodged the shoe Hermione threw at him as well as the cantaloupe Luna tossed in his direction. He laughed, not completing his sentence. He was joking and he knew Hermione knew he was joking.

Each sanctum in _Sanctuarii_ was specially designed to be the ideal atmosphere for each elemental dragon. Blaise Zabini, the _Ingis Carceris_ – Fire Guard – dominated the _Magnum Igne_ , the sanctum designated solely for fire bred, or predominately fire elemental dragons. Charlie Weasley, the _Caeli Carceris_ – Air Guard – watched over _Zephyrie_ ; Luna Lovegood, _Aqua Carceris_ – Water Guard – safeguarded the _Aquatilium_ , and Neville Longbottom, _Terra Carceris_ – Earth Guard – presided in _Meditaris Avena_. When Hermione approached each of her guards, she had given them the opportunity to pick their elemental and name their sanctum.

Hermione, however, had the final say in what their entire domain was to be named…

 _Sanctuaraii._

"Come," Hermione ushered for Charlie and Blaise to follow her. She was over their raunchy conversation. "Let's do an inspection of the Gates; Luna, call us when dinner is ready."

"Of course—and watch out!" Luna called over her shoulder. "I saw _larüa drakes_ again today from the Flight Deck."

Blaise had to pause. "… what _are_ _larüa drakes_ exactly?"

Hermione, Charlie, and Luna gawked at Blaise before Charlie shook his head and clapped his mate's back. "You insist on pestering Luna yet you do not even know what you're pestering her for?"

"Just tell me what the blasted things are."

Hermione sighed. " _Larüa drakes_ are dragon spirits – ghosts, per se – that seek to consume the souls of living dragons." Hermione watched Blaise's expression transform from confusion to pure horror. "Only those who have had a brush with death by the hands of a dragon can see them—like _Aqua_." Hermione nodded at Luna who looked uncharacteristically sombre. "They cannot come close enough to _Sanctuarii_ because of our barriers, but..."

"But if you are out flying with the dragons," Charlie stepped in, "they can most certainly get you."

Blaise gaped for a few seconds before exploding. "Why has _nobody_ thought that this was something worth **telling me**?!"

Luna shook her head and called over her shoulder, while dicing an onion, "I did. The first week we were on _Sanctuaraii_."

"How the bloody hell do you expect me to remember something from a _decade_ ago, _Aqua?!"_

"The same way I remember what _Draconis Domina_ tells us things from a decade ago, _Ignis."_

Blaise rubbed his face before shoving his hands in to his dragonhide leather pants. "I need to take a cold shower. This gave me the shivers," he bowed, playfully, to Hermione. "Do you mind doing the rounds alone with _Caeli_?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and Charlie rubbed his temples. "Is this your excuse of getting out of checking the Gates?"

"… perhaps."

"Fine. But only because you broke me out of jail." Hermione's smirk rivalled Blaise's. He taught her well; she definitely had a Slytherin streak to her, and Blaise prided in that— but just a tiny bit.

"Why thank you, great leader." Blaise turned to leave, but stopped momentarily. " _Aqua_ , do you have any reading material on these soul-eating-ghost-dragons?"

"No." Luna didn't even look at him. "But Hermione does."

Hermione answered Blaise before he could even ask her. "I'll give you some books, Blaise. Now, go cry in your shower."

He didn't acknowledge what she said; Blaise simply sauntered out of the kitchens, thinking of how a wispy ghost dragon could potentially consume his beasts' souls. _Not on my watch._

* * *

"What?" Harry Potter, the finest wizarding lawyer around, gawked at an old rival. Standing before him, in jeans and a half-tucked black button-up shirt, was Draco Malfoy cashing in an old favour that Harry owed him.

"Can you do it, Potter?" Draco sounded annoyed. "Otherwise I have to find other means."

"You want me to get you a warrant to obtain any and all information on _Hermione_?" Harry could all but splutter. _Does he have a lead on where Hermione is?!_ When she disappeared ten years ago, Harry and Ron just about lost their sanity in search for her.

But it was to no avail.

Hermione could not be found— _or rather,_ Harry had said to the Weasley clan and a small gathering of Gryffindor friends, _she doesn't want to be found_.

"Do you know where she is?"

Draco gave Harry a half-assed shrug. "No. But I need to obtain all information I can for her."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"That's private and confidential Auror information, Potter." Draco sneered. "Unfortunately, you aren't privy to it. All you need to do is get me the blasted warrant by _tonight_ and consider us even." Draco knew Harry was a man of honour; he knew Harry would do what he asked for the simple fact that Harry owed Draco Malfoy a favour.

And Harry hated being indebted to him.

"At least tell me _something_." Harry pressed. "Is she alive?"

Draco had to be calculative. He did not want to reveal too much information for fear that Harry might impose on his investigation. Sure, Harry Potter and his misfit band of Gryffindors played a huge part in destroying Voldemort, but his sleuthing skill left something to be desired. It was _Hermione Granger_ that was able to navigate any and all clues thrown their way. Draco did _not_ want semi-sleuthing Potter and no-sleuthing Weasley getting in his way.

"I'm not sure." Draco finally resigned to answer, knowing he was lying straight through his teeth. "But there was a break-in at Gringotts and the Aurors have reason to believe that Granger _may_ be involved. Now get me the blasted warrant so I can get Kingsley to give me some files."

It was a solid reason, Harry reasoned. Draco did have the jurisdiction to pull files from the Ministry of Magic on any magician that was registered with them. He had a good enough reason, too: potential link to a grave crime. Unfortunately, neither Harry nor Ron could ever request such files as their jobs did not require them access to that type of confidential information.

And besides, Harry doubted Kingsley Shacklebolt would give him access to it _anyway,_ whether he had the jurisdiction or not.

"Fine." Harry leaned forward in his chair. "I'll owl it to you. Tonight. Anything else?"

Draco shook his head. "No. But do not owl me the warrant; owl me when it's ready and I'll retrieve it myself." With that, the Malfoy heir turned to leave Potter's office. Before Draco was fully out the door, though, Harry called out to him.

"Will you tell me if she's okay?"

Draco paused and was motionless for a moment before calling out, without looking back: "Only if she wants me to."

And he shut the door behind him.

* * *

Streams of sunlight flowed into the _Canyon_ right at the break of dawn. Hermione's eyes fluttered opened and she, immediately, began her morning ritual: check on her _drac'ovum_ , bathe, change into her _Draconis Domina_ outfit – dragonhide tan pants with knee-high boots, a soft white chemise, and a dark brown, nearly black, dragonhide cape—and proceed to the kitchens for breakfast. Sometimes, if she had a few extra moments, she would apparate to the highest point of _Sanctuarii_ and simply watch the sun rise.

That morning, fortunately, was one of those mornings where she _had_ a few extra moments. Hermione threw her hair into a wet bun after her quick bath and pulled her outfit on before beginning her trek to _Heaven's Peak_ , the tallest point of _Sanctuaraii_.

Normally, Hermione would apparate there. But since her wand was in Draco Malfoy's possession, she didn't of the luxury of doing so. In the stead of apparating, Hermione had, in fact, the wonderful pleasure of strolling through her fortress and taking in all the sights. Appreciating the beauty of her fortress in all its glory was something Hermione did not do frequently; between putting out both literal and figurative fires, Hermione didn't get to enjoy much time taking in the sights of her majestic flying fortress.

So she relished the few times that she could. In fact, it was probably all thanks to Malfoy that she was even having that very moment itself.

After a short walk and a rather long climb up a sturdy ladder, Hermione pushed herself up onto the watch deck of Heaven's Peak.

With a deep exhalation, Hermione allowed her shoulders to slouch as she leaned over the circular guardrail that encompassed the watch deck. Hermione, like Luna, had one too many brush-ins with death and a dragon. Therefore, she was able to see the ghostly apparitions of _larüa drakes._ To her relief, though, there were none roaming the skies that morning.

 _I have to deliver Cryonis to Moscow next week,_ Hermione was running through her agenda through her head as she, lazily, watched the horizon. _I'll have to monitor the quad-elemental drac'ova to see if it's okay and if it hatches in to the legendary dragon. And I have to keep breeding pure dragons before resuming crossbreeding again._

Hermione closed her eyes and released a jaw-splitting yawn. Her sleep pattern still hadn't returned to normal, but it was getting there. She was able to sleep most of the night, which was a positive thing. Upon opening her eyes, Hermione screamed and stumbled backwards, falling onto her butt.

There, flying in front of her, standing on his broom with feet shoulder width apart…

Was Draco Malfoy.


	4. By the Honour of the Malfoy Heir

There, flying in front of her, standing on his broom with feet shoulder width apart…

Was Draco Malfoy.

Hermione's breath was caught in her throat. She didn't have her wand to defend herself and neither did she have her whistle – the _drakon sibilus_ – to call upon any of her roaming dragons. Draco Malfoy could, virtually, end her right there and the best thing she could do was fling herself off of the flight deck and fall to her grotesque demise.

"Don't look so startled, Granger." Draco guided his broom, the _Dragonfir_ was it?, closer to the platform Hermione was unceremoniously sitting on.

"How did—you couldn't have! There's an invisibility barrier on the fortress! Apart from us, only Shacklebolt knows how to penetrate it!" Hermione searched Draco's stormy eyes, wanting to find an answer in its endless pools.

"He is the only one," Draco affirmed as he jumped off of his broom and landed on the deck in front of Hermione. Scrambling, she got up and pressed her back against the railing, her hands clutching it for dear life. "I obtained a special warrant to pull any and _all_ information on you Granger." Draco took a step towards her. Hermione, in desperation, searched her surroundings.

 _Why couldn't there be a single dragon around at a time like this?!_ She could toss a mean right-hook at him, but that was about the best thing she could do whereas he had his broom _and_ his wand.

"And that information included your whereabouts for the last decade, those under your employment, and the specific incantation that allowed me to see _Sanctuarii_ —" Draco tilted his head, just slightly, to the left. "It was also very convenient that you're high above Wiltshire; it isn't a far flight from Malfoy Manor."

Hermione had stopped listening. She wondered if she screeched for one of her guards loud enough whether they would hear her or not. Her thoughts, however, were not masked and Draco was quick to close the distance between them. With a few powerful strides, he was positioned directly in front his old classmate. With his right hand clenching his wand, Draco used his left hand to grab the guardrail just beside Hermione. Her breath hitched; he was in her bubble of personal space. She could _smell_ the sandalwood masculinity oozing from him… it was the same scent she caught over a decade ago when she went to school with him.

"Call for them," Draco's whisper was lethal. "By the time they come get you, there will be nothing left."

Hermione's eyes widened. "You'd _kill_ me?"

Blinking, Draco seemed confused for a moment before exuding a low chuckle. He let go of the guardrail and leaned back, just slightly. "Merlin, no. I mean I'd apparate us out of here before they knew where to find you. Honestly, Granger, your lack of faith in me is saddening."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "I _never_ had much faith in you."

"Apart from the time you graciously tumbled down the stairs?" Draco smirked and Hermione continued to glower at him. Yes, that time she fell down the stairs and into Draco's arms right before the Closing Ceremony Ball in Hogwarts.

He would never let her live that down. Mostly because in the immediate vicinity were Potter, Weasley, Longbottom and Malfoy—and of the four men, she had screamed his name when she missed her footing and lurched face forward.

"It's been over ten years, Malfoy," Hermione shot. "I believe it's high time we let me live that down."

"Oh?" Draco cocked an eyebrow. "Fine. Then shall we discuss what happened before the fall?"

Hermione's eyes widened. Recovering quickly, she crossed her arms in front of her. "Mister Malfoy, I do not believe you came all the way to _Sanctuarii_ to discuss us making out moments before our Closing Ceremony Ball back when we were eighteen. Now, please tell me what brings you to my home so that I may get on with my day."

Draco's smirk widened. "I did come with an ulterior motive, yes—"

"And that is to arrest me?"

"Eventually. But not yet."

Hermione frowned. "Pardon me? Not _yet_?"

"No." Draco pulled her wand and whistle out of his cloak pocket. Hermione's eyes widened immediately when she saw them both. "Not yet. You are at a disadvantage, you see. You have neither your wand nor this whistle, and yes, I've learned of the whistle's powers. The ball is in my proverbial court so I believe you must do as I say."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "And that is?"

"Offer me a bloody cup of tea and reintroduce me to your _guards_ ," Draco loved seeing the anger flash in her eyes when he referred to her employees by the very term she did. "It's been a while since I had a proper conversation with Longbottom and my mate, Blaise."

"Absolutely not." Hermione was not going to let Draco Malfoy, Head Auror with a bounty on her head, to trapeze through her home!

"Oh?" Draco cocked an eyebrow. "What're you going to do, _Granger_? Take me inside or I'm hauling your arse to the Auror Headquarters and arresting you for the Gringotts break-in _and_ incorporating your war crimes while I'm at it."

"You've become quite the prick," Hermione snarled. "Even more of an asshole than when we were in school."

Draco gave her a nonchalant shrug. "You cannot be a nice person with the title of Head Auror. Now, let's go inside, shall we?"

Hermione glared at him for a few moments longer before dropping her tense shoulders. "Fine. It isn't as if I have any other choice." Draco openly smirked as he watched her begin her descent down the ladder. When he was sure that she was a few rungs down, he began to descend along with her; _finally_ , he thought as he rhythmically climbed down, _I can figure out what the hell Granger has been up to do for the past ten years._

* * *

Hermione pushed a pair of double iron gates open and ushered Draco to follow her. Breathing in deeply, Hermione began to call the guards:

"Terra! Caeli! Ignis! Aqua! To the Atrium, **now**!" She hoped that they could hear her. Typically she used her wand to project her voice, but seeing as that was impossible at that moment, Hermione could do nothing else than roar. Draco, a half a step behind her, raised both eyebrows.

"You don't call them by their names?"

Hermione didn't look back at him, but gave him a one-shouldered shrug. "I call them by their titles. It's a force of habit."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know, Malfoy. Why're you an asshole?" At that, she did look over her shoulder, "Some things just cannot be explained."

Draco decided to keep his mouth shut. It wasn't because he had nothing to say, it was more of the fact that he was in awe of the beautiful intricacies of Hermione's dragon sanctuary. Large marble pillars created ethereal pathways that led them to their destination. The floors were also of marble, reflecting the light of the high chandeliers that were peppered throughout _Sanctuarii_. With a push of another set of double door, Hermione walked in to what she referred to as the Atrium. Draco was both surprised and not when he saw her four _guards_ already waiting for her there…

"Hermione what— **the fuck is he doing here**?!" Neville took a step forward but Blaise had already beat him, shooting at Draco to grab him by the scruff of his collar.

"How. Did. You. Find. Us?" Blaise enunciated each and every single word. Hermione gasped and took a few steps back, mainly to distance herself from her Fire Guard and his friend—she knew when the Slytherin boys got together, fists were expected to fly.

"Easy there, _Ignis_." Draco's voice was mocking Blaise, which riled him up further. "After your and Granger's exhibition at the Auror Headquarters, I was able to secure a warrant to pull all information on Granger. Shacklebolt was very detailed in your account, I must say." Draco said as he tilted his head to look at Hermione. "The date and time in which your fortress rose, the dates and contracts of all those employed, and your waivers for your dragons. All his i's were dotted, and t's crossed."

Blaise decided to release Draco, but continued to glower at him. "You here to arrest Hermione?"

"Not yet." Draco gave the same response to Blaise as he did to Hermione on the watch deck of Heaven's Peak. The more he interacted with them, the more curious he became. Arresting Hermione was never at the forefront of his mind; finding out their _secrets_ was more important to him.

Although Draco did not condone criminal activity – and Hermione did commit a crime – his curiosity was piqued by what Granger was hiding, and he damn well couldn't find out her secrets while she was locked up in a holding cell. Or even Azkaban, for that matter.

"Then why're you here?"

Draco's eyes flickered to Charlie Weasley. He didn't _look_ like the other Weasley's; Charlie was in better shape than Ron ever was. _Perhaps it's because of the many years he's spent taming dragons._ Draco reasoned with himself.

"I'm here to monitor Miss Granger," Draco had mastered the art of lying throughout his many years of navigating life around Lucius Malfoy and terrorizing the corridors of Hogwarts. He had even duped a muggle lie detector test during his Auror training days. He was one of the two that was able to successfully cheat the system; the other being a Slytherin a few years younger than him.

Draco shrugged lazily. "I'm sure you are all aware of the crime she has committed. Now, seeing as she has claimed that the egg was hers to begin with, I trust that you can agree a little bit of monitoring is a hell of a lot better than arresting Miss Granger."

Charlie's eyes narrowed. "Define _monitor_ , Malfoy."

"I watch her every move. For a month." A month would give him enough time to figure out _something_ —such as why she decided to launch her fortress in secret, why she employed such a misfit band of guards, and what was so special about the egg that she had to break in to Gringotts for the second time in her life.

"Impossible." Blaise spoke up. "You're on thin ice with me, Malfoy." Blaise couldn't help but glower at his friend. Though Draco didn't know why Blaise Zabini was so fiercely loyal to Hermione, it didn't make a difference to Blaise… all Blaise could remember was seeing Hermione in handcuffs with _fear_ in her eyes through the floo call.

Blaise had never seen fear in Hermione's eyes; not even in Hogwarts.

An age old promise rocked him to his core; a promise made when he was first approached by Hermione to be part of _Sanctuarii_.

 _"_ _You've never given me a reason to mistrust you, Blaise."_

 _"_ _That still doesn't explain why you'd want_ _ **me**_ _to be part of this… project."_

 _"_ _I believe that you will be the perfect person for the job. It can be risky; no, it_ _ **will**_ _be risky. But I know you can do it—you wouldn't be here in Romania, otherwise."_

 _"…_ _fine. I'll join you…"_

 _With hands linking to form a handshake, a single thought reverberated through Blaise Zabini's core:_ You saved me from myself, and for that, I will protect you with my life.

Seeing Hermione in the state he did made him feel as if he had failed her.

Failed himself.

Though Blaise grew up with Draco and considered him a best friend, he considered Hermione his _family_ … and nobody, not even Draco Malfoy himself, could ever come between him and his family.

"How is that impossible, Blaise?" Draco turned his body to face his friend. "How is me monitoring a criminal even _remotely_ impossible?!"

"Let's take a few steps back." Luna Lovegood's voice cut through the tension. "I'm very confused with what's happening—care to explain from the beginning, Malfoy?"

Draco's eyes flickered to his old eccentric classmate. "Gladly. Miss Granger here," Draco used his head to gesture at Hermione, "has broken in to Gringotts bank and stole an egg while kidnapping the Lestrange dragon at the same time. This is a grave criminal offence, one that deems her a prisoner of Azkaban… _however_ ," Draco glanced at Hermione, "instead of sentencing you to life in prison, I have taken it upon myself to monitor you for one month to determine if your actions were malicious or not." Finally, Draco turned to Blaise. "Only then will I reach a verdict."

"This doesn't seem like it follows any set of rules, Malfoy." Neville had his arms crossed in front of him. "What new laws are you creating to get what you want in this circumstance?"

"None, Longbottom," Draco turned his attention to Neville. "I am actually being quite lenient… unless you would prefer me to take Miss Granger to the Auror HQ to finalize her arrest?"

Hermione had enough: "I need all of you to _be quiet_." Hermione watched her guards expectantly. "You four, please resume your duties. No room for argument." Hermione added the second point as an afterthought when she saw Blaise and Charlie open their mouths. "Resume operation as normal. Luna, give me an update on Mediae for dinner tonight. Blaise, prepare your dragons for breeding. Charlie, I need you to do the outer inspection today. Neville, can you clean the mating chamber? And you," Hermione finally turned to Draco who was watching with great amusement. "Follow me."

"Hermione!" Blaise, Neville, and Charlie all called her name, taking a step forward. Hermione gave them a look which stopped them all dead in their tracks.

"At least take my wand," Neville pulled his wand holster that was secured around his waist. Nodding her head in appreciation, Hermione retrieved the wand from his outstretched hand and began her ascent to the _Canyon_. Draco followed close behind.

The four guards watched in dismay as Hermione pushed a set of iron gates open and disappeared behind it. Counting to ten, Blaise moved to follow the two but a strong hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing so.

" _Caeli_!" Blaise scowled when he saw Charlie holding onto his shoulder.

" _Draconis Domina_ will be very upset if you follow her." Charlie reasoned. "She has _Terra_ 's wand and this is her domain; Malfoy will have to be very stupid to try to do _anything_ to her here." Charlie's eyes scanned his friends' eyes. "Just follow her orders but stay on alert."

Shoulder's sagging in resignation, all Blaise could do is watch the door in which Hermione and Draco disappeared behind.

* * *

Draco said nothing. He simply followed Hermione through the intricate corridors of _Sanctuarii_ until she stopped short in front of a pair of iron doors with an insignia on it: _DD – Granger_

"DD?" Draco cocked an eyebrow as Hermione fiddled with the door handle. Without pausing, she shot over her shoulder: _Draconis Domina_.

"Ahhh," Draco crossed his arms. "I read about that in your notes, Dragon Master hmm? Ironic how you're using _my_ name as _your_ title."

Hermione finally unlocked her door and pushed it open. "Ironic how your first name comes from the Latin term of a beautiful and majestic beast… but you're a prick."

"Touché." Draco shrugged as he walked into the room behind her. Immediately he was awestricken by the complexity of the room he had just entered: shelves of books hiding all the walls except for a single wall that had shelves of incubating dragon eggs on it. His eyes immediately zoned in on the black dragon egg that she stole from Gringotts.

"Interesting chamber you've got here." Draco finally said as Hermione busied herself over the eggs.

"Hmmm…" With a final check, she turned to Draco with her hands on her hips. "What is your motive here, Malfoy?" She said heatedly. "You've gone out of your way to find all the information you can on me, locate my fortress, and concoct an elaborate scheme to stay here for a month. If arresting me is what you intend to do, then how about let's get this over with?"

Draco took a few steps forward and lessened the gap between him and Hermione. "Whether I have a motive or not, Granger, you will never know. Just be glad I haven't thrown you over my shoulder and hauled you to Azkaban myself." Draco's eyes narrowed, but only slightly. "If you are truly innocent, then my staying here for a month should make no difference to you."

"You will **not** be staying here." Hermione squared her shoulders. "You can't always get what you want. Arrest me, _Malfoy_ , but you are not imposing on my dragons' lives!"

"How about we strike a deal then, hm?" Draco crossed his arms, visibly relaxing. "I monitor you for a month and if, _if_ , I come up with nothing, I'll fund this fortress of yours a little."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "You cannot _buy_ me, Malfoy. You should know that by now."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "How about something closer to home, then? If you are claiming this egg is yours and it was stolen from under your nose, then the thief is still at large, hm?"

That caught Hermione's attention. Against her better judgement, she urged him to continue: "Go on."

 _Jackpot._ Draco thought, his smirk widening. "I monitor you and your sanctuary for a month— _no restrictions_. I go where I please, when I please, all as part of my investigation. If all comes clear, I will help you locate the person who stole your dragon… and if I find any reason to arrest you, then I do."

"If you find any reason to arrest me for the _current charges_." Hermione interjected. "If you find something that, _somehow_ , breaks any laws that aren't related to me breaking-and-entering, you cannot use that against me and neither can you bring it up after your month of monitoring. Additionally, what you see and hear in _Sanctuarii_ is confidential information and once you depart, you cannot reveal that to _anybody_. Also, you pull your weight; if I'm giving you room and board, then you need to do work around here that's something other than snooping."

Draco cocked an eyebrow. "So I have free reign?"

Hermione gave a half-hearted shrug. "If I impose any restrictions, you'll only think I'm hiding something."

"So you're giving me permission to snoop?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "If I say no, you'll find a way to get _your_ way." Hermione walked up to him so that they were an arms-length apart. "And you drive a hard bargain: you _monitor_ to your hearts content, as I have nothing to hide, and in return you help me find the person who stole my egg and arrest **them**."

"That sounds like a fair deal."

"However," Hermione continued and that forced Draco to raise an eyebrow.

"There's more?"

"We start searching for them _immediately_." Hermione stressed the final word. "If we wait a month then any leads will have become cold."

"Okay," Draco's lips twitched. "On the condition that my board is in _your_ chamber."

"Pardon me?! How is that relevant to _anything_?"!

"So I can keep an eye on you." Draco was incredibly indifferent to his request which caused Hermione's eyes to narrow into thin slits. "Do we have a deal?"

He outstretched his arm.

Hermione paused for a moment before, reluctantly, grabbed his hand into a tight handshake. "You get the floor."

"Couch." Draco's eyes flickered to the tan suede couch in Hermione's room. "And be glad I'm not demanding the bed."

"As if you'd get it." Hermione snorted. "Fine. Deal. Malfoy honour?"

Draco nodded curtly. "Malfoy honour." Those two words meant significantly more than the simple word 'promise.' His name and his honour were above all, and he knew Hermione knew that very well. _Besides, I don't intend to look for incriminating information… just…_ _ **something**_ _that you could be hiding_.

"Do I get a title as well?" Draco suddenly asked as Hermione let go of his hand and took a step back.

"I'm sorry? A title?"

"Like Blaise."

"No. You aren't one of my guards. You're simply a visitor and they don't get titles." Hermione didn't even want to entertain games for Draco. Her blood was boiling over the agreement they had just struck, but it was to her benefit. She had nothing to hide from Draco, so he could snoop to his heart's content; what she needed was somebody of great skill and the aptitude to find the person who stole her egg. And for that person to begin their investigations with Marietta Edgecombe. To Hermione, the Head Auror of England was the best possible person she could recruit.

"I insist on having a title."

"What about Ferret?"

"That joke's old now, Granger." Draco pocketed his wand and Hermione shoved Neville's wand into her now-dry bun. "I'll think of something." Draco finally settled with before walking over to the couch to acquaint himself with it. "Well then, now that we've come to an agreement, how about—"

 **"** **Draconis Domina!"** Luna's voice bellowed. **"Breakfast is ready."**

Hermione glanced at Draco. "I suppose I must feed you?"

"I suppose you must—and here." Draco withdrew her wand and her whistle from the inside of his robes, causing her to gasp and hesitate for a moment. "We've reached an agreement and I know you're a woman of your honour. So, I will return your items to you on the basis that if I have to arrest you, you can't resist."

That broke Hermione out of her stupor. With a glare, she retrieved her wand and whistle before saying: "You won't have a reason _to_ arrest me." Slipping her whistle – the _drakon sibilus_ – on, Hermione pushed her wand into her left boot and ushered for Draco to follow her. "Come on, Malfoy, breakfast is getting cold."

With a final nod, Draco began followed Hermione through the labyrinth like corridors of _Sanctuarii_. He had to begin to memorize them if he were to navigate them effectively. The bargain he struck with Hermione was surly to his favour: he would _definitely_ find some information on her, and in return he had to find somebody who stole her egg. Finding at-large thieves was what he did best, so finding the perpetrator would prove to not be a difficult feat.

"You're a terrible liar, by the way." Hermione finally said just before they approached the doors that would lead them to the Atrium.

 _There._ Draco smiled. _There's the Granger I know._ "About time you called me out on it." He said, his tone soft.

"You don't intend on arresting me, do you?" She glanced over her shoulder. All Draco could do was shrug.

"I have my motives, Granger."

After a short pause, Hermione finally spoke. "That's fine, Malfoy, but do not forget your promise to me."

"I will find the one who first stole your egg, Granger," he repeated, "but in return you cannot stop me from what **I** am doing."

It tore her soul from out of her very essence, but she agreed. _Sanctuarii_ was peppered with rich history and secrets, and although she had nothing to hide, it bothered her that somebody that wasn't her or her guards would have access to such information. But she knew that Draco Malfoy was also a man of his word; he would only help her if he got what he wanted. _Worst case scenario, I'll burn him to a crisp with one of Ignis' dragons._

Putting all thoughts behind her, Hermione pushed the double doors open and continued her trek to the kitchens…

This time, with the newest addition to the _Sanctuarii_ family.


	5. A Day in the Life Of

It tore her soul from out of her very essence, but she agreed. _Sanctuarii_ was peppered with rich history and secrets, and although she had nothing to hide, it bothered her that somebody that wasn't her or her guards would have access to such information. But she knew that Draco Malfoy was also a man of his word; he would only help her if he got what he wanted. _Worst case scenario, I'll burn him to a crisp with one of Ignis' dragons._

Putting all thoughts behind her, Hermione pushed the double doors open and continued her trek to the kitchens…

This time, with the newest addition to the _Sanctuarii_ family.

Draco watched the back of Hermione's as she began to descend the curved staircase that led her down to the atrium. His feet were planted at the top of the stairs, his mind reeling: _I could imagine the look on eleven-year-old Draco,_ he thought amusedly, _Head Auror, former Death Eater, working in Hermione Granger's fortress—said Granger is **not** married to Weasley, which was a common rumour in Hogwarts. Oh, and I'm boarding in her chambers, sleeping on her couch. Mini-Draco would've absolutely ensured that his father heard about this…_

Shaking his head to break his train of thought, Draco began to descend the stairs as soon as Hermione made it midway. Slowly, she cast a glance over her shoulder: "You alright? You're straggling."

He tossed a smirk in her direction. "Simply memorizing the intricacies of your flying fortress, Granger."

Hermione said nothing to him, simply rolled her eyes and continued – at a languid pace – her trek to the kitchens.

* * *

Blaise had half a strip of bacon hanging out of his mouth and Neville was mid-sip into his morning cup of tea when Draco and Hermione pushed the gates open that led them to the kitchens. Blaise spared Draco a glance before returning his gaze to his friends. Painfully swallowing the strip of bacon, he continued with his story.

"So I tied her to my bed-post for saying such blasphemous things about Slytherin, which was irony in and of itself seeing as how she _was_ a Slytherin, and—"

Draco couldn't _help_ but interject. "Are you telling them about Mafalda Prewett? Because that certainly isn't how the story goes."

Charlie lost all colour to his face and all members of _Sanctuaraii_ turned to stare at the shocked Weasley. "You tied my second cousin once removed to a bed post?!"

"Identifying her as your second cousin once removed completely eliminates the seriousness of the situation." Draco murmured under his breath, but nobody (other than Hermione) heard him. She gave Draco a small nudge and used her chin to usher him to sit at the empty chair beside her seat. Without missing a beat, Draco did as he was instructed but was careful not to break his attention from Charlie Weasley.

"Before you get your knickers in a twist Weasley, I must inform you that that is _not_ how the story goes." Draco continued but Blaise glowered at him.

"What do you mean?! You and the boys were at Quidditch practice."

Hermione sat beside Draco and used her wand to get his plate to appear in front of him, piled with Luna's breakfast goodies. He nodded, slightly, in appreciation but kept his attention on the conversation at hand.

"We weren't. We snuck back into the dormitory with Potter's Invisibility Cloak."

"Huh?" Hermione spluttered. "How did you get a hold of _that_?!"

"It was a fair trade," Draco sipped his mug of coffee. "Potter asked for a favour and, as repayment, I was allowed to use the cloak for a day."

Neville snorted. "The shite we learn after school is done. Didn't you and Harry hate each other?"

"Just as Charlie here is so concerned about his _cousin_ Mafalda," Draco paused to sip his coffee, "I was equally concerned about my distant cousin Potter." The sarcasm in his voice was palpable and Hermione was resisting the urge to lecture him about proper manners at the breakfast table. If there was one thing she learned during her rule of _Sanctuarii_ , it was that she could not control the lack of manners of anybody sitting around the breakfast table.

Her biggest culprit being Blaise. He had a sharp tongue and a wise wit.

"Sarcasm isn't appreciated, Malfoy." Luna muttered and turned her gaze to Hermione. "The dragons are ready for breeding, _Draconis Domina_. Mediae is being monitored, no new findings as of yet." Luna provided her update when Charlie piped in.

"We can do our rounds together, _Hermione_ … if you'd like." Her name rolled off his tongue and the tone of his voice caused Draco's eyes to flicker to Charlie.

 _What the bloody hell—_ Draco's eyes flickered to Hermione to see that the way in which Charlie Weasley said her name did not affect her in the slightest.

"Sure." Hermione replied and turned her attention to her coffee. The rest of breakfast went by amicably; the guards all spoke of their duties, gently filling Draco in on the schedules that they followed. Hermione informed them that apart from his _research_ , Draco would assist where required; Neville was quick to jump at the offer, saying he needed Draco's help in relocating some dragon hatchlings.

Knowing that it was all part of the plan, Draco agreed without reluctance. His mind, however, kept going back to two things:

1) What was Granger hiding, and

2) What the _bloody hell_ were Charlie Weasley and Hermione Granger up to?!

* * *

Draco couldn't begin researching at all; Neville was quick to approach him after breakfast asking if he could help him with the relocating immediately. Knowing that he had some time to spare, Draco agreed and followed Neville past a set of oaky double doors, into a flush flora filled sanctum. Eyes widened in shock, Draco slowly drank in his surroundings; trees rocketed into the open skies of the sanctum, canopying over the ground dwellers, a beautiful crystal waterfall rushing off the edge of a cliff that was somehow attached to the sanctum walls.

"How did—how does—"

Neville paid him no heed; he was too busy petting tiny bird like dragons that fluttered towards him.

"Come," Neville ushered. "I need to get you dragonhide apparel before you can handle the dragons."

Masking his confusion, Draco was quick to follow Neville into a small cabin not too far from the entrance. Draco surmised the cabin to be Neville's office and, to some degree, he was right. It was Neville's sleeping chamber and room of rest; a place where he stayed during his long working hours. The quaint cabin didn't have windowpanes; there were simply cut-outs where the windows would otherwise be.

"Here." Neville fished out a pair of gloves, trousers, and boots from his closet. "They're new; we just got in a shipment of our dragonhide clothing from Romania last week." Neville passed the clothing to the stunned Auror.

Hesitantly, Draco reached out and accepted the clothing from Neville. "Thanks? Why aren't there any upper body gear?"

"Our dragons are trained never to attack us, so for the most part we're safe. Our hands, feet, and lower body are what come in contact most with their elemental fury." Neville shrugged as Draco began to peel his Auror gloves off. "Charlie wears a dragonhide chemise, but Blaise and I opt out for the most part."

Draco had slid his fingers into the dragonhide gloves and was amazed at how it felt like second skin. He could tell that whoever the tailor was that bound the apparel together was of high skill. Next, Draco unlaced his Auror boots and unbuckled his pants. Neville, being the shy guy that he always was, turned around quickly but continued to speak.

"The dragonhide clothing is a combination of the four cardinal elements: earth, air, fire, water." Neville explained as Draco pulled into the pants. It was a surprise that Neville Longbottom's clothing fit Draco perfectly; he wouldn't have guessed that they shared a size and a body type.

"Therefore it protects us from all dragons, should any of us need to tame a dragon that isn't our specific element… are you done?"

"Yes." Draco responded as he slid into the dragonhide boots. He kept his chemise on, a white peasant style blouse with a rounded neck, as well as his Auror cape. He felt naked without his cape… but that was a secret he'd tell no one.

"Alright then," Neville crossed his arms, "let's go move some dragon babes."

Draco rolled his eyes as he shoved his wand into his left boot. "You're _way_ too excited, Longbottom."

"Help is rare in these parts, so forgive me for being a little enthusiastic." It was Neville's turn to sound disgustingly sarcastic. Draco stifled his laughter—Longbottom had changed, but certainly for the better. Following Neville out of his little hut, Draco followed him closely while allowing himself to take in the atmosphere of Neville's sanctum. His initial shock from the beauty subsided and Draco began to take in all of the intricacies of _Meditaris Avena_ , Neville Longbottom's earth sanctum. It was as if Draco had entered a world anew; nothing of Earth even presided in the fantastical chamber.

"Just this way." Neville instructed as his boots crunched over composting leaves. Baby dragons flittered everywhere, managing to zip past Draco as he continued his trek along a worn out dusty path. "This is the _Silvaque Perdendas_ … an open glade." Neville explained as he and Draco pushed past foliage in to a beautiful clearing. The sheer size of the sanctum was enough to put Draco at awe, but to see a glade the size of a muggle football field certainly made Draco's jaw drop.

"This is where my hatchlings are." Neville pulled his wand out of his boot and began proceeding slowly. Draco pulled his wand out, from sheer habit, and followed Neville's lead. "The mother dragons are fiercely protective; they know Hermione very well and trust her with their hatchlings."

"But you?" Draco asked and Neville exhaled loudly.

"None of the mother dragons trust the Dragon Guards with their hatchlings. Hermione is the one the breeds all of them, so the parents _have_ to trust her." Neville glanced to the left and Draco idly looked over to see ochre eyes peering at them from within the shadows of the jungle. "But after they are successfully impregnated, Hermione puts the mother dragon in our care—it's the most effective method, but it's also very dangerous. They don't trust the _custodibus_."

"The guards?" Draco translated and Neville nodded.

"Right, the guards. They trust us to train and honour them, but from a familial standpoint they do not trust us at all. Their young are their everything…" Neville kicked a small pebble and it skipped into the dense jungle of his sanctum.

"Then what's the ideal and not-dangerous method?"

"Hermione is present for all the hatchlings birth, but that isn't practical." Neville and Draco arrived at the foot of where the hatchlings were. They were all securely housed in a large nest that resembled something that a bird may build. Draco noted how ugly dragon hatchlings looked; they were oozing with some form of uterus goop and lacked every dragon quality. Some were feathered, and some hatchlings weren't… but they were all hideously ugly.

"Because she oversees this entire fortress?"

Neville crouched and held his protected fingers in front of a curious little hatchling. Draco cocked an eyebrow. _Okay, little bugger is a_ little _cute…_

"Because in between ensuring all four sanctums run smoothly, she protects _Sanctuarii_ from external predators, breeds the dragons, plays doctor for the dragons, travels to different dragon fortresses across the world for whatever reasons, and keeps the four of us in line." Neville glanced up at Draco. "She's still a hardworking slave driver."

 _I could've told you that, Longbottom._ Draco snorted inwardly, but kept his snide to himself. He had to be amicable with all of the dragon guards if he was going to get any information from them. "So what's the plan?"

"We have to take these hatchlings," he pointed at a batch of dragons that looked slightly older than the rest. "To the _cuniculum_ —it's a burrow just a few paces north."

Draco nodded as he bent down to pick up two _relatively_ cute dragon hatchlings. _Fine, these little buggers are beginning to grow on me._ And, so, began Draco's long day of trudging through composting leaves and broken tree branches to deliver a batch of hatchlings to the _cuniculum_ with Neville Longbottom.

* * *

Hermione was leaning over the railing on the Flight Deck. Charlie Weasley was standing right beside her, his arm brushing up against hers as both stared out past the horizon. Hermione's mind was abuzz with everything that had happened—she had yet to figure out how Draco Malfoy pulled the feat he did.

But he _did_ pull it, and it didn't matter how he did. He was going to be living in _her_ room for a month while investigating her. She knew she didn't have anything to hide, but Draco Malfoy was always known to be a sleuthing sneaky little shit.

"Why do you look so upset, Hermione?" Charlie asked, his voice a husky drawl. Hermione immediately knew what he wanted—and it wasn't aligning with what _she_ wanted. Sure, she and Charlie romped in the hay a few times, but that didn't make them _lovers_ , per se.

"The last few days has been… _busy_." Hermione opted to say. "I'm trying to come to terms with everything."

Charlie nodded and moved to wrap an arm around her shoulder. Hermione was quick to shrug him off and he, smoothly, moved to cross his arms. "It's understandable that you're overwhelmed with everything."

Hermione exhaled, loudly. "He's an unknown variable thrown into the perfect equation of our lives." Hermione muttered. "He was never _supposed_ to find out about us."

"And neither were you supposed to get caught bringing back your _drac'ova_." Charlie's rebuttal was ready.

"Merlin, I know." Hermione growled, hitting the railing. "I don't know how that happened!"

Grabbing her shoulders, Charlie moved to turn Hermione to face him. "Not everything can go according to plan, Hermione," his right hand moved up to cup her cheek and he used his thumb to rub circles. "You have to adapt to the situation, which is what you're doing."

Her chest heaved. "I know…"

"Do you want to… get your mind off things?"

 _He wants to have sex._ Hermione thought dryly. It had been a while since they lay together, and frankly she didn't do it out of desire. She did it out of necessity… the pent up sexual frustration she suffered sometimes was intolerable and she needed a release. Neville and Blaise were both like her brothers, which left Charlie to be the last option.

And she hated that _that_ was the reason she slept with him. But it was the unfortunate truth…

"I—"

"Granger!"

Charlie let go of Hermione as if she burned him to the touch and, although Hermione wouldn't admit it, she was glad for the interruption. The duo turned to find Draco approaching him, wearing an outfit made of _dragonhide_. Despite herself, Hermione found herself catching her breath—Draco Malfoy looked particularly devilish in an outfit made entirely of _dragonhide_. Coupled with his Auror cape, he was definitely a sight for sore eyes.

"I see Neville has given you a welcoming gift?" Hermione recovered from her little bout and cocked an eyebrow.

Draco shrugged, nonchalantly. "I wasn't going to help him move dangerous dragon babies without _something_ to protect my perfect Malfoy hide."

Hermione could do nothing but snort and Charlie groaned in exasperation.

"Any particular reason you're interrupting us, Malfoy?" Charlie sounded irritated but Draco couldn't care less. When he climbed onto the Flight Deck, Draco saw that Charlie was leaning in on a particularly uninterested Granger. It was bred in him to protect those in need – _not!_ – so he intervened.

That, and anytime Draco could put a damper on any Weasleys' intention, it brought him immeasurable joy.

"I require Granger's assistance with something." Draco crossed his arms. "And as the one conducting this thorough investigation of Miss Hermione Granger and _Sanctuaraii_ , I believe that I hold the right to request her for her time at _any_ given time?"

"We were preoccup—"

"Its fine," Hermione interrupted Charlie. "Shall we discuss what you require assistance with in my chambers? I need to check up on my _drac'ovum._ " Hermione saw Draco nod once before looking over at Charlie.

"Can you finish the rounds?"

His jaw was tight, but Charlie nodded nonetheless. He wasn't quite appreciative of being interrupted, but who was he to question the _Draconis Domina_. With a final nod, Hermione turned and followed Draco down the ladder of the Flight Deck. As soon as she was out of earshot, Charlie let out a shout of despair and punched the railing, allowing all of his frustration to vent out with his violent act.

 _Fucking Malfoy._

* * *

"What did you need assistance with?" Hermione asked as Draco followed half a step behind her to her chamber.

"Nothing." Draco smirked as she stopped and whirled onto him, furiously.

"Nothing?!" Her voice was beginning to get shrill.

"You seemed quite uncomfortable with your situation." Draco leaned forward, just slightly. "Is Charlie Weasley not living up to your expectation?" Hermione snarled before turning on her heel and stomping towards her room. Unfortunately, Draco was quick to react and followed her with a taunting tone.

"If I hadn't shown up, would you have allowed him to kiss you?"

"Shut _up_ , Malfoy."

"Have you two been intimate?"

"I'm extremely close to breaking your nose again."

He snickered. "He is the best looking Weasley so I wouldn't blame— _whoa_!" Draco dodged left as Hermione's fist whizzed right past him. "My reflexes have gotten better," he surmised as Hermione gave him one last death glare. She turned around, with conviction, and resumed her angry stomp back to her chambers.

"Have I struck a chord, Granger?" As the words left his mouth, the heavy _bang_ of her door reverberated through the corridor. _Apparently I have…_ Amusedly, Draco pushed her door open to find her studiously standing in front of her wall of dragon eggs, examining each one of them with meticulous intensity.

"So you _have_ slept with him."

"Why is that any of your business, Malfoy?" Hermione said through grit teeth.

"You _did_ say I have free rein on all information, Granger."

"My sex life is not something that could benefit you in _any_ way."

Draco shrugged and flopped onto his bed he called home. _I have forgone my king sized cloud to sleep on a fucking couch,_ his mind groaned. "It may. Perhaps your rendezvous with Weasley could've been a motive?"

"How the bloody—" Hermione swallowed her words when she saw the stupid grin on Draco's face. _The bloke is teasing me…_ "You're a twat."

"I've heard that numerous times from you throughout the years." Draco kicked off his boots and sunk further into the couch. Admittedly, it was quite comfortable. "Does Charlie kiss better than I?"

"You're seriously testing my patience. How was moving the hatchlings with Neville today?" Hermione dodged his question and turned her attention back to her dragon eggs. Draco didn't miss the fact that she did not answer his question— _gives me something to wonder about._

"It was fine." He admitted. "Longbottom has given me quite the history lesson on dragons."

"Such as?"

"Honestly, I don't remember. I'm not one to pay attention that well," Draco muttered sheepishly and Hermione stifled a chortle. She _had_ to agree with his sentiment; he _wasn't_ one to pay attention very well.

"How you managed to beat me in our final year of Hogwarts as smartest student is beyond me," Hermione admitted. "I was mortified."

"I know." His tone was infuriatingly gleeful. "You were shooting daggers at me that morn."

"My ego was bruised."

"As was mine for the six years that _you_ beat _me_."

With a final check of her last _drac'ova_ , the retrieved quad-elemental, Hermione set her notepad down and fully turned to face Draco. "So, did you find anything of consequence today?"

"Not at all." He yawned, loudly. "After acquainting myself with your dragon guards, I was stuck helping Longbottom relocating his eggs and cleaning his sanctum. But I _did_ get to taste a new Lovegood dessert creation."

"… _what_?! Taste testing is _my_ job."

Draco's eye twinkled. "While you were out canoodling with Weasley—"

"MALFOY!"

His laughter echoed in her chamber and that only caused her blood to boil more. Gone was the asshole Malfoy of her past; before her lay a grown up, mature, and witty Draco Malfoy that knew when it was time for business, and knew when it was time for pleasure. The façade he had at that moment was vastly different from the Malfoy from early that morning—he wasn't Head Auror any longer, he was simply a _man_.

"You're still so easy to tease, Granger." Draco smirked. "Somehow I feel like my month of monitoring you will be fruitless…" _She's an open book and she's giving me free rein on everything in her floating fortress… if she's hiding something, she's hiding it well enough to be confident that I will not find it._

"That's a risk you're taking. But you gave me your word that—"

Draco stood up and cut Hermione off while cracking his neck. "That I'll find the egg-napper. Yes, that agreement was made on the honour of the Malfoy name, so please stop getting your panties in a twist."

 _This little piece of—_

 **"Draconis Domina! Advena!"** Luna's voice resonated through all of _Sanctuaraii_. **"Dinner is served!"**

Hermione's eyes flickered to Draco. " _Advena_?!"

Draco smirked. "Lovegood insisted I have a Latin title—she thought _Newcomer_ would be perfect."

Hermione groaned but decided it was best not to argue such trivialities. If _Aqua_ wanted to give the stupid Auror a title, then fine, she could give him a bloody title. It's not like it changed anything; he was still an annoying prick that loved to tease her and was intent on finding some deep dark secret about her.

Lost in thought, Hermione strode over to her bed and began toying with the clasps of her cape. _Unfortunately for him, the latter **will** prove to be fruitless, as he so kindly put it._

"Hey Granger," Draco called out as Hermione began unfastening her cape. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see him adjust his own cape.

"Yes, Malfoy?"

"Tomorrow, I will be spending my day with you." He needed to watch and monitor her. Perhaps if he spent some of his time with her, it would lull her into a false sense of security and she would inadvertently reveal information to him.

It was an unlikely scenario, but Draco was going to give it a shot.

"Sure." She didn't put up a fight. "You have free rein, you needn't ask me."

"It's simply the polite thing to do."

"Being polite is a foreign concept to you." Hermione muttered as she stalked past him, en route to the kitchen. Draco simply snickered and set off after her.

 _Day one: unsuccessfully, I've found nothing. But that means nothing—I have one month, Granger._ Draco turned the corner and began to saunter down the beautiful staircase; Hermione was only a few paces in front of him. _I will find out why you left your friends to start this fortress… why you are so intent on saving that egg… why Blaise is so protective of you… and why the hell you're sleeping with Charlie-fucking-Weasley!_


	6. Harbinger of End Times

Dinner went by without a hitch. Each _carceris_ – guard – provided Hermione with an update of their respective sanctums and dragons of interest. Draco sat, mostly in silence, and observed their interactions. Although he had taken part in the jest and storytelling during breakfast, Draco decided to take a more laid back approach for dinner.

His intention was to resolve the plethora of 'primary' objectives that he had. At the top of the list, quite possibly the most important thing he could even hope to figure out was **why did Hermione Granger suddenly disappear and start a dragon fortress?**

Second on his list of _primary objectives_ , but not as important as the first time, was to determine the level of romanticism (if any) that existed between Granger and Weasley. It was evident that what Charlie Weasley felt for Hermione Granger was leagues more than what she felt for him. Draco hadn't the foggiest as to why he _wanted_ to know the extent of their relationship, but his interest was piqued and come hell or high water, he would satisfy his curiosity.

His third 'primary' objective was to understand fully the relationship the guards had with each other and with Hermione. They were incredibly misfit, even all the way down to the Gryffindor alumni, yet they worked in perfect synchronisation. Draco would never have guessed that the five of them would have flawless synergy… and he wanted to know _why_. Why _them_? Why have the five most incredibly different Hogwarts alumni band together to run a secluded fortress for a decade?

 _I have a lot of primary objectives,_ Draco thought sheepishly as he watched Blaise tell Hermione, animatedly, of a tumble he took in his sanctum.

 _And primary objective number four… and maybe the most important next to Granger's reason of erecting this fortress: what the hell is going on between those two? It clearly isn't romantic, seeing as Weasley number seventeen hundred wants to shag Granger… so what? I haven't known Blaise to care about anybody other than himself… so why is he risking being thrown into jail for Granger?_ Draco tuned out for most of Blaise's recount of his day, but was gently brought back to reality thanks to a kick to his shin. His eyes flickered over to Hermione to his left; she wasn't paying him any heed, but he knew she was the one that broke him out of his reverie.

"I won't be mating any dragons tonight." Hermione finally announced at the end of her guards' retellings. "My shipment from Transylvania hasn't arrived."

Neville frowned and Draco watched as he gently placed his fork down. "The _fiara de flori_ isn't here? I ordered those weeks ago…"

Luna, who was sitting on Draco's other side, leaned over to provide him with a brief definition. " _Fiara de flori_ is the _beast flower_ that's native to the Carpathian Mountains bordering Romania. _Draconis_ _Dominia_ requires it to facilitate the mating rituals between dragons."

Nodding in appreciation, Draco returned his attention to the conversation at hand.

"… I should've checked up on it when I was in Romania." The Head Auror tuned in just in time to hear the tail end of Hermione's statement. Draco began to chew slower; he found that he couldn't hear anything over the sound of him mashing food in his mouth. _Which is a ridiculous notion, but I can't argue with myself, now can I?_

"We can make a short-haul if you want?" Charlie offered but Hermione was quick to decline. Not at all surprising himself, Draco found that he was mildly gleeful at the Weasley's rejection. _Scratch that, fucking elated that he was turned down._

"That isn't practical," Hermione murmured, chewing on her thumbnail. "I can't keep flying to Romania… I hardly have my sleep cycle back in order."

 _That's also because you broke in to the biggest Wizarding bank – for the second time in your life – to steal an egg. But let's not bring that up now, shall we?_ Draco could only think the snide sarcastic remarks he wished so badly to say aloud. Alas, if he did voice his opinion, he was positive that the great Gryffindor Princess would do more than just break his nose.

"Terra," Hermione's eyes flickered to Neville. "Follow up on the status of our order. I cannot keep waiting; the dragons need to be mated."

Neville nodded, but said nothing in response.

"You available to help out in _Magnus Igne_ tomorrow, mate?" Blaise asked, sitting opposite of Draco. Caught off guard, the Slytheirn alumnus looked confused for a brief moment before smoothly recovering.

"I made an arrangement with Granger that I'd be monitoring her all day tomorrow." Draco advised Blaise before taking a sip of some _wonderfully_ luxurious red wine. He made a mental note to uncover the seller of the product so he could purchase a _shite_ tonne for himself.

Blaise made a sound that was akin to a snort before shoveling scalloped potatoes into his black hole of a mouth. Hermione rolled her eyes, having an unwanted nostalgic flashback of Ronald Weasley attempting to shove an entire chicken drumstick into his tiny twelve-year-old mouth. Though separated by houses with a distinct set of ideologies, the two boys were way more like than she liked.

"Malfoy helped clear out my sanctum, so I have some time to kill." Neville spoke up and Blaise's eyes flickered at his companion's direction. "I can help you?"

"Many thanks mate… I'm behind on my work…"

"And I wonder why _that_ would be?" Charlie cocked an eyebrow and Blaise waved his fork in Charlie's face. Charlie was the eldest out of all them, and the rest of the guards respected him as if he were their elder brother. With respect, however, also came the age-old duty of the 'younger siblings': badger their older brother until he was on the brink of insanity.

Neville and Blaise held true to their younger-sibling duty. Luna, however, couldn't care less and left Charlie to his devices most of the times.

"I was too busy breaking _Draconis Dominia_ out of jail." At the end of his statement, he shot Draco an obvious side-eye which was maturely ignored by the Head Auror. "I didn't see you run to her heroic rescue."

"That's because _Draconis Dominia_ knew you're the idiot who had any semblance of an idea of how to break out of jail." Charlie smirked wryly and Neville hooted with laughter.

Blaise couldn't help but snicker. "Fine. I'll give you that point, mate."

Hermione's head was ping-ponging between the verbal combatants, but Luna was less than amused. She had used her wand to create a skyscraper from her potato scallop disks. Draco, who wasn't one to ever get involved in nonsense that wasn't his business (unless it had to do with Harry Potter… or Hermione Granger… _mainly Hermione Granger_ ), had his undivided attention on Luna's skyscraper.

Having had enough, Hermione decided to give her Guards the orders for the remainder of the night:

"Alright, enough! Aqua, you and Caeli are doing the outdoor rounds tonight." Luna caught Charlie's eyes and they both shared a nod.

"Terra, you're checking the interior gates. Ignis, do an exterior scout from Heaven's Peak… and… _Malfoy_ …" Hermione wasn't going to give Draco the satisfaction of using his makeshift title – _Advena_. As innocent as a bandit, Draco smiled at Hermione.

"Yes, _Granger_?"

Hermione ignored the tone of his voice. "You can help me check my _drac'ovum_."

Almost immediately, the ruler of the Air Sanctum sputtered in disbelief. "But—"

Hermione shot Charlie a look when he began to argue. "Malfoy isn't fibbing when he said he and I are going to spend tomorrow together… I promised him free reign and free reign is what I intend to give him. I will hold no room for argument, understood?"

Neville whistled low. "I don't think I've heard that tone of voice in nearly ten years…"

"And the last time she used it was on Caeli, ironic enough." Blaise snickered which earned him a murderous glare courtesy of Charlie. "What?" Blaise tried to sound offended, but was failing miserably. "I'm just trying to say that some things never change."

"Bloody hell—" Charlie pushed his plate away from him and stood up. "Excuse me." Without waiting for a response, Charlie stomped out of the dining area and towards the direction of his sanctum. All eyes were on him and Draco voiced the thought that was going through everybody's mind:

"What's up his arse?"

"It's that time of month…" Luna snickered. "He has his moments of…"

When she was at a loss for words, Blaise decided to fill in: "Utter idiocy?"

"Thank you, _fratello Ignis_." Luna winked at her companion and Blaise howled in amusement, his head thrown back.

Appetite lost, as Hermione knew why Charlie was acting difficult, the ruler of the fortress stood up. Caught off guard, all those present turned their attention to her in silence, Draco Malfoy included. With a brief glance at all of them, Hermione took a step back from the table and nodded at Neville.

"Can you ensure he does his evening task?"

Neville nodded. "Absolutely. Are you retiring for the night?"

"I think so. Today's been quite the day… Malfoy, coming? Or do you want to finish dinner before retiring to the _Canyon_?" Hermione's eyes flickered to her once mortal enemy-turned-lover-turned-enemy again. It was a history she refused to relive, but unfortunately fate had other plans for her. Wordlessly, Draco took one final bite of his now-cold chicken and stood up.

"Lead the way, Granger."

* * *

Draco Malfoy knew better than to rile his _old friend_. Hermione seemed to be seething for some reason and Draco kind of wanted to know why… as he was scheming away of how to pry that information out of Granger, Hermione had led them through a shortcut all the way up to her humble abode; the _Canyon_.

"We got here quicker than before?"

"I took a shortcut." Hermione glanced over her shoulder. "Weren't you paying attention?"

"Not at all." Draco smirked as he brushed past Hermione to push open the doors to her bedroom. Gawking at him, Hermione picked her jaw up off of the floor and followed him into her room, allowing the door to slam shut behind her.

Draco undid the clasps of his cape and, with a rustle of leather, his cape hit the floor. Hermione had her arms crossed in front of her, watching in distasteful amusement— _the prick is still a bloody prick._ But… Malfoy did have a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to him; utter confidence that proved him to be a man, not a boy. He was sarcastic, witty, and an utter shithead… _but it isn't the same kind of shithead of Malfoy at eleven years old._

"So," Draco was folding his cape when he turned his attention to Hermione. "What's up Weasley's arse?"

As predicted, Hermione had a flicker of annoyance on her face but she masked it as quickly as it came. Draco watched her expectantly but, once again, as predicted she did not reply to his question. Instead, Hermione brushed past him to her glorious wall of dragon eggs and began to inspect them, one by one, with quill and notebook in hand. Draco leaned against one of the posters of her bed and watched her with great intent—he watched the way she bit her lower lip when she studied an egg especially closely….

He watched the way her index finger tucked a stray lock of her bangs back behind her ear…

He watched her nose scrunch up, ever so slightly, when a bout of confusion hit her.

 _So, basically, she hasn't changed from when she was seventeen. Just brilliant._ Draco pushed himself off of the poster and approached Hermione, standing close enough beside her that their shoulders were touching.

"Forget Weasley then." Somehow, his voice sounded an octave deeper. "Why are _you_ so upset?"

"That isn't your business." Hermione muttered, but Draco wasn't going to take _no_ for an answer.

"He seems to annoy you… sometimes."

Hermione had to inhale deeply to calm her nerves. "He doesn't annoy me, Malfoy. He is one of the guards of my sanctums. None of my guards annoy me… besides," She whirled unto him. "Why are you so curious?"

Draco shrugged one shoulder before leaning forward to pluck her quill and notepad from her hand. Hermione gasped in surprised and, when reaching for her possessions, found that Draco wasn't going to give her back her things anytime soon. While Hermione thought he was going to simply put her items out of reach, giving her more of a headache than anything else, she was pleasantly surprised to see that he began to glance at her notes and imitate them; examining her _drac'ovum_ for her.

"Must I be honest?" He spoke without looking at her. Instead, he was closely studying a blue egg with red swirls. The shell of the egg was pulsating, mimicking the hatchling's heartbeat inside.

Hermione's breath caught at the sound of his voice; husky… and almost sultry.

"Yes." She wanted to kick herself for sounding like she was waiting with baited breath to hear his next words.

He didn't look at her but continued to make notes on the eggs. "You went missing for so long, without rhyme or reason." Hermione noted that he stopped writing and her eyes travelled from his stilled hand to his stony face. He still wasn't looking at her.

"We… dated, Hermione."

Her heart slammed against her ribs and stilled. It was the first time she heard him say her name in a _very_ long time. And it made her blood race the same way it did the first time he whispered it.

"We dated, albeit for a short period of time… but dated nonetheless." Finally, he turned to look at her and his stormy grey eyes were filled with confusion, and emotion. "Then you break up with me just before the Closing Ceremony Ball but still did with me what we did as a couple."

Hermione's tongue was caught. She had nothing to say, and no way to respond. She could count on one hand how many times she was rendered speechless… and this was one of those moments.

"Then things get nasty between us and, lo and behold, a fortnight later you disappear without a trace." He turned away from her and resumed taking notes. "So pardon me for being more than just a little _curious_ … I had a bloody heart attack when I saw you breaking out of Gringotts, atop a dragon… I thought, like the rest of the world, that you were _dead_."

Hermione's eyes were downcast. She didn't know what to say…

"I… get where you're coming from," she finally opted begin with. "And I wish I could tell you why. But I can't."

"Which is fine," Draco interrupted and her head shot up to catch his gaze. "My research here will give me the resources to learn of that reason, which I can assure you. What I want to know _now_ is why Charlie Weasley annoys the living daylights out of you when I can tell you two have been fucking."

" _MALFOY!_ "

"Am I wrong?"

"You are such a pig!" Hermione snatched her belongings from him and shoved him out of the way, causing him to laugh in amusement.

"Fine. Fine. I can tell you aren't going to tell me about you and Weasley…" Pausing for a brief moment, Draco approached her _drac'ovum_ and leaned forward to study the very egg Hermione broke into Gringotts for. "But… do tell me about this dragon egg that you deemed special enough to break into a bank a second time for." Draco gestured at the charcoal black egg with shadowy wisps surrounding it. He noticed that every time Hermione examined her eggs, she gave _that_ particular egg special attention… to say that his curiosity was piqued would be an understatement.

As an afterthought, Draco added: "Or can you not tell me that either?"

Hermione sighed in resignation and placed her notepad and quill down on one of the _drac'ovum_ shelves.

"I can tell you about the egg," she muttered. "But this is _Sanctuarii_ confidential information—once you leave the fortress, you cannot repeat anything I tell you. I said you were going to get free reign on the fortress and the dragons, so I intend to give you all of that. But after you leave, _all information goes with you to your grave._ "

"I promise."

"Malfoy's honour?"

He nodded, extending his arm to shake Hermione's hand. "Malfoy's honour."

Hermione caught his outstretched hand and shook it twice before letting go. Ushering for him to sit on the sofa, Draco and Hermione moved to sit on either side of the couch. When comfortable, Hermione began to explain the history and significance of her quad-elemental dragon.

"That dragon is a perfect hybrid of the four cardinal elements—its siring _drakon_ is a fire and air hybrid, and its dame _drakaina_ is water and earth." Draco's eyes were locked on Hermione's and he only shifted his head slightly when she paused, silently informing her that he had no questions.

"Breeding a perfect quad-elemental is difficult; both parents need to be an even fifty-fifty split with their elemental genes." Hermione looked away from Draco to stare at her _drac'ovum_. "In a typical hybrid dragon, one element is always dominant over the other, so to have a fifty-fifty even split is rather difficult to conceive."

"Let alone two?" Draco offered.

"Let alone two." Hermione affirmed. "But once you have two perfectly even elemental dragons and breed them to create one perfectly even quad-elemental dragon, you are more than half-way in to breeding the fabled _Chaos_ dragon."

Draco's eyebrows shot up. "Come again?"

Hermione looked away from her eggs and returned her gaze to meet Draco's eyes. "A _Chaos_ dragon is a perfect split between all four elements that can only be tamed by the one-true master… the _Verum Dominium_ …"

"So you?"

"No… I'm just _a_ tamer, but there are many. All of the guards are tamers… the owners and guards of other dragon fortresses are tamers… it could be anybody; but the one that the dragon accepts as _his_ tamer is known as the one-true master…" Hermione began to whisper, unintentionally, "The Master of Dragons; the tamer that can train _any_ dragon."

"So you have to find this person if it isn't you…"

"Exactly." Hermione nodded.

"And what will happen otherwise?"

Hermione's features softened. "The _Chaos_ dragon is the harbinger of the end times… it will wreak Armageddon unless otherwise tamed."

"So basically it's the dragon form of Voldemort."

Hermione laughed, despite herself. "Essentially, yes."

"And nobody's bred one before?"

"Not that any of us has heard of, no." Hermione shook her head. "Like I said, creating a perfect hybrid is hard enough… nobody has ever managed to breed _two_ perfect hybrids and then manage to breed _them_ together to create the _Chaos_."

Though the situation didn't call for it, Draco decided he needed to be a _little_ sarcastic. "You _are_ Hermione Granger, the bloodiest perfect witch in all of Hogwarts history… if your arse couldn't breed this damn egg, I don't know who else could."

"Ever the Malfoy with your backhanded compliments."

"At least they're compliments."

Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed herself off of the couch. "It's rare to breed one of these… dragons cannot be traded with other sanctuaries," Hermione plucked her notepad and quill off of the shelf and continue to make notes. Draco remained at the couch, but watched her intently. "The dragons of a sanctuary will only accept the ruler of that fortress to be their master. So if I had a perfect hybrid dragon, but the fortress in Romania had the opposing hybrid dragon, we couldn't cross-breed them. They wouldn't listen to us."

"So each tamer has to breed their own hybrid." Draco concluded and Hermione nodded without looking at him.

"Precisely."

"And why are you trying to create the fucking harbinger of end-times?!"

Hermione let out a shaky laugh. "Who _isn't_?" She retaliated. "All tamers are, but as of now nobody _could_. Nobody _has_ … until now."

"I feel a little better knowing it's _you_ who bred it and not a loony that's trying to follow in Voldemort's footsteps." Draco revealed while reclining into the couch. "But what if, worst case scenario, your true master is a wacko who ends up destroying the world anyway?"

Hermione paused long enough to glance over at Draco. "The caveat is that the one who kills the true master obtains the title for themselves."

"So you have to murder somebody?"

"No. The tamer needs to commit a crime that goes against _Drakon_ laws. If all dragons can see that the true master isn't acting on behalf of their best interest, then they will accept the bringer of retribution as their _new_ tamer."

Draco groaned. "This is getting more and more confusing as you explain it to me."

Completing her examination, Hermione tucked her notebook away and came to a stop in front of an _extremely_ comfortable Draco. "Good. Then I won't expect you to actually remember anything—anyway!" She waved her hand in front of him, leaning down low enough for Draco to catch a glimpse of her cleavage.

 _Dammit, Granger! Hide those milk-jugs, will you?!_

"What are you planning on doing _now_?"

"That depends on _you_." Draco sat up straight which forced Hermione to stand up again. If she were in that position for a minute longer, Draco would've ended up fucking _kissing_ the woman.

"What are _you_ planning on doing?"

"A follow up on the guards' tasks." Hermione revealed. "Then I typically engage in my nighty ritual of mediating and practicing magic before retiring for the night. Am I to anticipate a hiccup in my ritual?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yes. Because I need you to show me all entrances to the fortress."

Hermione narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "… why?"

"Do you _not_ want to know how somebody snuck into this place and stole your bringer-of-end-times-egg?!"

Caught off guard, Hermione was at a loss for words. _Rendered speechless again_.

"That's what I thought," Draco spoke before Hermione could recover. "So let's get your nightly ritual out of the way so I can get to auroring."

Involuntarily, Hermione took a step back to allow Draco space to stand up. He paid her no need as he retrieved his cape and reattached it to his dragonhide chemise. "Coming?" He threw over his shoulder when he saw that she was still standing in the same spot whereas he was at the foot of her bedroom door.

"Yeah," she replied, sounding almost unsure of herself. Without a second look back, Hermione followed Draco out of her room and missed the way her charcoal egg pulsated.


End file.
